Too Beautiful for Earth

“An Angel in the book of life wrote down my baby’s birth, and whispered as she closed the book ‘too beautiful for earth’…” Author Unknown

On the night when my first child died, a very wise nurse paused at the opening of my hospital door before leaving me to rest.

“Your son,” she said, “he gave those of us working here at the hospital tonight an incredible gift. That gift was a lesson on love. About the love that two parents can have for their child, about the love that a brother can have for his sibling, and about the love of a family in both life and death. Your child was here for a reason. His presence here on this earth did make a difference. Somehow, he touched us, somehow he touched the whole world, and now, I’m sorry, but it’s your job, after his death, to try to figure out what gift he was trying to give you.”

Her words haunted me, leaving me with a perpetual longing to understand why Gabriel had come, and why Gabriel had left. What was his legacy? What gift had he given to me, that I could now pass on to someone else?

In the end, it turned out that he gave me “words.” Words that led to a story, a story that formed itself into a book, a book that helped me to get all of my thoughts and feelings out onto a safe surface, leading me away from a career I no longer enjoyed towards a career in writing and life coaching, a career in which I am able to use my experiences and skills to help others.

What’s your story? What event, big or small, has transformed you into the person you are today? When we stay engulfed in the tragedies of our Yesterdays it’s hard to turn a new page. But as we develop the courage to trust and understand that everything always falls perfectly into place, a new chapter is born, a new path is cleared, and the thorns that previously blocked our way have magically transformed into life-giving wildflowers leading us back home.