Dedicated To The One I Love

a song from the mamas and papas album deliver
it's a cover, which most people don't know
from the shirelles

the second verse and chorus of the lyrics are:

Life can never be exactly like we want it to be

I can be satisfied just knowing that you love me
There's one thing I want you to do especially for me
And it's something that everybody needs

Each night before you go to bed my baby
Whisper a little prayer for me my baby
And tell all the stars above
This is dedicated to the one I love

now, i doubt this is what they had in mind when they wrote that song
but my dad and i were having a conversation about death a few weeks ago
it's inevitable as people get older, it will come up at some point
but i like the idea of dying and moving on knowing you love your family and friends
and that they love you in return
it seems simple, and peaceful
even though the reality is that life is not that simple

the main conversation involved the fact that death itself should not be loathed
but the pain it causes the family and friends you leave behind is unbearable
it's a part of the process, but one that can get overlooked 

i found a quote from one of my favourite writers this week that expands on it:

"What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories."
--Points of View (1959) Somerset Maugham

the statement hinges on perspective
it just depends whose you are looking at it from
a blessing to some
a burden to others
but my personal advice is don't stop making memories
because at some point that is all we will have left