The Next Last Thing

 

There is a space that I have created over many years to talk about difficult things with others who would like to join me. 

Specifically, during the last decade that became even more fine-tuned in the past two years as I shared on this space about me. 

 

This came about as I was taking care of a few things for our son after he passed away and it seemed there were some next last things, we did for him.

 

It seemed that there were a series of things we did that felt like the next last time we could do this thing, or that, for him.

 

Pouring a cup of juice then making a pan of eggs before he passed away and then making a bed. 

All for the last time. 

 

The next last thing has become a list of things that have become shorter and shorter over time.

 

That in itself seems natural as time passes and as I have done things for our son one last time. 

 

Recently there have been a few more things that I have been doing with this thought in mind. 

 

Can you go there with me? 

Let’s try it! 

The next last thing could be sharing a story.

Doing something that is the next last thing could be sharing a story that is close to my heart and trusting that it will be received with the joy and heart love that is being sent with it. 

 

Can I guarantee this, my friends? 

 

No, I surely cannot.

 

So, what does this mean? Do I pull back and hold the stories in my own soul? 

 

That was a consideration until I sat with it for a while. Quite a while, actually.  

 

The realization came to me, quite recently in fact, that the stories will be sent out with goodness and hope that the joy and resilience that our son lived with every day will be felt and seen. 

 

Doing this piece of a next last thing is what I can do for this minute of time. 

 

Sharing it with others is going to be incredible. The picture of him on the cover of the book with these stories shows who he became with confidence.

What is difficult may be an opening.

I also realized that what is difficult for me today may be an opening for one person to see that this is possible. 

 

Stepping into, around and through a difficult time can be done with others around as support. 

 

That was a learning curve for me, as you may be able to imagine.

 

There is also the slight thought in my mind that I have come to understand these many years later. 

 

Sometimes doing the next last things does not have to come at the end of life. 

 

Could it be possible? 

I have spent so much time doing this only one way that I am not sure about any other way, and yet… 

 

What about this?

 

Take this into consideration and remember I am playing with this idea as you go down this road with me. 

 

Could I do the next last thing in a new way?

 

Now, I am a natural observer and one who can sit and watch others at an event every single time. 

The next last thing could be this.

Doing the next last thing for me in a new way could be this. 

 

How about the idea of doing more of what I do like, such as the small one on one gatherings that I enjoy and throwing in a few large gatherings with some ideas from places like Cook’s Country?   

 

Yes, this is one possibility to think about. 

 

How about this one next? 

The next last thing for me could also include finding one more way to connect with someone new as I travel along the back roads and as I work to maximize another’s strengths. 

 

That can be where I go for now. 

How about you, my friends?

 

Starting with where you are now, trusting a step that is coming and considering what you’d like to do. 

 

All this is possible if you’d like to join me with a difficult thing to say and what may be your next last thing.