Before the song ends

Last night, I posted something to Facebook/Google+ that I wanted to share here:

I'm listening to music as I proofread an essay. A song comes on. I remember listening to it in my parents' house, and then I think of how much I miss them and wish they were still alive. And I resolve, yet again, to never miss an opportunity to tell the people I love how much they mean to me. One day, the chances to speak up will run out and those folks must never think for a second that my love for them has. And then, the song ends.

All of that is true and written in the moment, stream of consciousness style, as it happened. My point, of course, was about the importance of connection to the people we love.

I ended the piece that way on purpose: The song ends, the moment ends, does the resolve? Do things return to the “we’ll all live forever” normal? It’s up to each of us to decide for ourselves.

The essay I mentioned was, not surprisingly, a blog post—what are they if not essays? As I edited, I stopped when I heard the song, and was lost in my own thoughts of nostalgia and longing. And then I put pen to paper, metaphorically speaking, to capture in words what I was thinking and feeling. As I do. But I seldom publish such things on this blog (or anywhere else). Someday I should talk about why that is.

Still, a personal blog ought to be about what is in our hearts or, at least, what passes through them. The whole point is to bear witness to life as we see it and feel it, even when it’s a bittersweet remembrance as we do something else.

The song always ends. Our connection to those who share our lives with us doesn’t have to.