{"id":8257,"date":"2015-05-15T00:05:34","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T05:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/?p=8257"},"modified":"2015-05-14T08:19:23","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T13:19:23","slug":"smelling-the-lilacs-while-they-last-this-fantastic-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/smelling-the-lilacs-while-they-last-this-fantastic-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"Smelling the Lilacs While They Last this Fantastic Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lilacs\"<\/a>This post that first appeared in May of 2008 speaks for itself. Uncle Ralph, you are dearly missed.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Sunday, the swiftness of death and the uncertainty of life touched me twice. Mom called after lunch with the news of her brother\u2019s death. His son had called Saturday and said Ralph was failing. \u201cWithin a week,\u201d he said. We thought we had a few days.<\/p>\n

But Ralph didn\u2019t mess around. He died like he lived \u2013 fast and full-steam ahead. The swiftness of his passing surprised but didn\u2019t shock us. After all, he was in his late eighties and had lived a good life. Once we received funeral details, we crowded a trip to Minnesota\u00a0 into the upcoming week\u2019s plans and moved on.<\/p>\n

In the evening, my husband and I helped at a graduation party for our friends\u2019 daughter. During the festivities, word came that a tornado had destroyed a high school in Parkersburg, where the uncle and aunt of the graduate teach. Next we heard seven people had died in the storm. Then word spread that some of the deaths occurred at graduation parties. No one said the words, but we read them in one another\u2019s eyes. It could have been here. It could have been us.<\/p>\n

This morning I walked down our road. The grass glittered, washed clean by gentle rain in the night. The birds sang. The trees swayed gently in the breeze. The first iris bloomed in the ditch. The lilac branches drooped under the weight of blossoms at the height of beauty. Tomorrow, they\u2019ll begin to fade. If the wind comes up, they\u2019ll be gone.<\/p>\n

I did the only thing I could in the face of the fading beauty of this life and the swiftness of death to come. Today, I smelled the lilacs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post that first appeared in May of 2008 speaks for itself. Uncle Ralph, you are dearly missed. On Sunday, the swiftness of death and the uncertainty of life touched me twice. Mom called after lunch with the news of her brother\u2019s death. 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