How the Dead and Dying Make Us Smile

Photo by Pixabay

My Dad went onto hospice services recently. Since that time, I have found myself reminiscing about all who have gone before him.

Stories and happenings I haven’t thought about for years have bubbled to the surface. My Nana, my grandma, aunts and uncles, friends, brothers, and a son.

What I find delightful is that not one of these memories is bad. Time has turned my memories into funny, delightful stories that are enjoyable to share.

I even dreamed about my grandmother the other night — for the first time that I remember. She’s been gone for decades. (In the dream I gave her a fish)

After the passing of Olivia Newton-John this week it has been fun to read the sweet tributes and memories. Apparently, she was a truly lovely person.

Ms. Newton-John was a big part of the lives of many who grew up in the 1970’s. With the cult classic “Grease,” her youth and exuberance lived on for multiple generations.

The reminiscing concerning her has included lip-syncing all her songs while performing in my bedroom, the two flat tires discovered after my date to see “Grease” (prior to cell phones, so we had no way of notifying our parents!), and dancing and singing to the songs of Xanadu — which was also the first movie I ever went to see by myself.

My brother and I used to spend our summers in California, where fashion was a bit ahead of the small town in Oregon where we lived the rest of the year. I came home with BIG hair and straight leg pants one time. My classmates teased me and called me Olivia Newton-John. I was secretly flattered.

While I pray that my aunt’s will come to bring my Father home, I am enjoying the sweet memories of my life and those who have been in it.

It is the gift of the dead and dying to make us smile through our tears.