There's a new show on television (well... it was new this year... it actually already had it's season finale... so I will try to not spoil it for you) called This Is Us. Have you seen it? It's amazing! Probably one of my favorite shows on television right now. It follows the story of this family and the ups and the downs of their lives together. I love stories like that. Ones that really capture what it means to be human. The everyday challenges that we face. The ones that just feel real, you know? It also helps that they have an amazing music selection but that's beside the point.
Now I don't want to ruin too much of the story for you in case you haven't seen it yet and want to (seriously! The first episode alone is worth watching... so creative and a storyline I have NEVER seen before) but there was a moment a couple of episodes ago that really got me thinking. Now again, if you haven't seen it, SPOILER ALERT! Stop reading right now and go watch the show... when you finish the season then you can come back and read the rest of this post.
Ok... So in the show, one of the main characters is adopted and in the first episode he finds his biological father. He then spends time building a relationship with this man and he comes to find out that his father is very sick. He has terminal cancer. He takes his father in and introduces him to his daughters and they build a relationship together as he attempts to fight his cancer. Eventually it gets to be too much and he stops the treatment. And without going into too many details in case you still haven't seen it and are still reading this, his biological father dies.
The episode that stood out to me the most though was the one after he died. He had asked his granddaughters to plan his memorial service to make sure it wasn't too sad. Throughout the entire episode, Randall (the character who lost his dad) was trying to figure out how to honor his father. The one thing he was really struggling with, which I found so profound and intriguing was remembering how he lived his life before meeting his biological father and choosing how he would live his life after knowing his biological father. You see, he didn't have much time with him (less than a year really), but he knew the impact that that time spent together had on him. He knew that he couldn't live his life the same having known the man that he knew, even for just a brief time.
Have you had anyone like that in your life? Someone who blows in and out of your life like a flash but has such a profound impact, that you find yourself knowing that you cannot live the same way having known that person? There are a few people that come to my mind. My grandma Linda for sure. She was in my life for 27 years so she didn't come and go in a flash. But the extra time that I got to spend with her when she was sick I wouldn't trade for anything. To see her faith insight of her fear. To see her light up at the sound of her favorite hymns even when she couldn't hold a conversation. To see her spirit and her joy at a familiar face, even when she couldn't find the name. That has changed me forever. Because of that I will never be the same. I cannot live my life the same.
Who is that person for you? And how have they changed you?
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