A brand new day – daybreak over Dunk Island Aug 29
How amazing is the human heart!
Serious illness aside… it beats away relentlessly inside the chest across the course of our natural life.
It will keep on beating even though we might neglect it.
It will keep on beating even though we might ignore what it is telling us.
It will keep on beating even though it might ache.
And it will keep on beating long after it is broken.
It may skip a beat or two here and there… but that won’t make it stop.
It even beats without our knowing it… when we are fast asleep!
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It may become hardened by cynicism.
Yet it can be warmed by a simple act of kindness.
It can be stirred by enthusiasm.
And moved by the inspiration of a single thought.
It can endure disappointment.
And can be strengthened by conviction.
It may suffer terrible loss… but that won’t make it stop.
It will keep on beating… year after year after year.
No matter what.
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What man-made machine could ever do that?
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Through triumph and tragedy… the strength of the human heart… and the resilience of the human spirit shines through.
Tears welled in my eyes…
when I read how 41 year old Amalia Filloy handed up her young daughter Maria to firefighter Francisco Martinez for safekeeping… as she herself lay dying in the wreckage of Spanair flight JK5022… less than three weeks ago. Maria’s 14 year old sister was already dead. How strong this mother’s heart that it would not stop beating until she had secured the safety of her only remaining child. My thoughts turned to my son who had recently been in the place where she and her family were travelling to. I was thinking… there but for the grace of God go I. I wonder if I could have been so strong?
And again the other night…
as I heard the story of how a young man’s parents bravely bid goodbye to their 20 year old son and (as was his wish)… made way for the donation of his organs to four grateful recipients. Doujon Zammit’s life was cut short whilst holidaying with his mates on the Greek island of Mykonos where he was senselessly set upon, bashed and killed by a nightclub bouncer. His parents indescribable pain at the loss of their beautiful son in a faraway country… was soothed by the gift of life that Doujon himself had insisted upon.
When his mother and father travelled to Greece to meet the young man who received their son’s strong beating heart… Doujon’s mother took the man’s hand in hers… and placed it over his new beating heart. All three wept for the senseless loss of life that had [paradoxically] brought new hope and the promise of a new life to another such young man… living in this far off distant land.
Doujon may have died that day… but his heart beats on. And the love that his parents shared with four total strangers will keep their son’s memory alive. Still… their own weary hearts will beat laboriously on… through grief and sadness and irreparable loss.
As a mother… I pray that my heart will never be tested in this cruel way. Hearts never mend… but they do go on. Even when we might not want them to. I have sometimes heard parents say when they have lost (or are losing) a child… that they wish it could have been them. My own parents said it. I know what they meant.
It seems far too easy to become caught up in the trivial day to day issues and struggles that besiege us all. Sometimes it’s good to remember what’s really important… and to give thanks for that. Life might not be perfect but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not meant to be. Besides… it’s all we have!
Our hearts will keep on beating (no matter what)… until our time is up. Until then… we might take a lesson from that heart of ours… and never ever give up.
May the beat go on!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
What a touching post Jean! I don’t know what else to say except thank you for writing something so loving, honest and open. Have a magnificent day with all that it brings to your world Jean.
Warmest,
AG
Thanks AG… I hope your day is also nothing short of simply wonderful!
Beautiful post, Jean. I think back to the day quite a few years ago in Johannesburg when I gazed at the hospital where the world’s first heart transplant occurred. I was looking at a bulding, stone and steel, and yet still the wonder of that great leap for mankind filled me as did the other one, years earlier, the one that happened on the moon.
Thanks John… amazing how far medicine has come isn’t it? Looking at this man now… it is difficult to grasp how ill he had been prior to receiving the new heart. His rebound to improved health has been nothing short of miraculous. I couldn’t help but wonder at the circumstances of this tragedy. What are the chances of a perfect match turning up right when it did… from so very far away? If I were Kostas I would be looking around my life to find the greater purpose… surely such a saving grace could not have been for nought! Life is a beautiful gift… how much more beautiful is that gift when it is bestowed one human being to another. It was a courageous decision for one so young.
Hi Jean,
I can only echo what Andrew and John have said…what a beautiful piece you have just written and how very true! The strength of ones character can only be measured by the gifts they leave behind…the kindness, the thoughts that remain and the spirit that lives on. Its amazing what the human heart can achieve when projecting the generosity that comes from it. To be able to save a life..wether it be from raising your arm just a bit higher, giving when you can no longer help yourself or mending a broken body would have to be the ultimate gift.
Thanks Jools…
I know you must be really busy with your move… so very much appreciate your stopping by. When my youngest was fretting about exams in the final throws of Yr 12 I painted her a little picture (looking back now… it might have been a precursor to the current cartoons I guess) It showed a group of students arms slung around each other’s shoulders… and the caption read “Exams do not define you. In the end the only mark that really matters is the mark you leave behind. Do your best. Leave your mark.” I really do believe we can (and should) leave our mark. In whatever way we can. And hopefully someone somewhere will be more the better for it!
Well Jean..I can honestly suggest that YOU have left many marks on many lives!! And that is a job well done!
Yes..I have been busy, but am trying to pace myself as the old
“dicky leg” is playing up a treat, I am like the little red caboose at the moment – “I think I can, I think I can!!” I am so glad that I have time to do what needs to be done.
Hi Jean:
Wow you write so beautifully. You sure have been given a wonderful gift. I am sorry that we didn’t get together this summer. Maybe someday, ok?
Ellie
Yes Ellie… let’s make it a date okay? Plans for this year have had to be shelved but who knows what next year will bring.
Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely encouragement. It’s appreciated more than you know!