Where Do Our Loved One's Go?

Have you ever wondered where people really do go when they die?

My very dear friend called me yesterday, upset, and heart-broken as she was missing her mother who passed away three years ago.

Apparently, my friend had made a simple meal that reminded her of her dear mother that triggered a fond memory of her mom. That precious memory as small as it was, took my friend back and she called me, just barely able to speak.

I am so grateful that my friend deems me worthy of such a call and yet, I was and am always at a lost for words. My heart goes out to her. And to her family.

What do you say?

Somehow, "Well at least she is not suffering any more," does not suffice. Nothing I can say will or can make it better. Not when the person who is really suffering is my friend who just wants her mom back.

Even though it has been three years since her passing, the loss is still so painful and so raw. Like a wound that just won't heal.

Time is supposed to heal, but does it?

Maybe the loss just becomes somewhat more manageable. And yet, my friend tells me she feels closer to her mom than ever. She shares that she can feel her mother's presence with her all the time.

So where do our loved one's go?

Are they really in heaven? Heaven sounds and seems so far away. And yet every thing we 'hear' about heaven is wonderful.

Wonderful for whom? Certainly not for those who have experienced the loss.

I wonder...is it possible that heaven is just another dimension?

A dimension that is not visible to the naked eye?

And my friend's mother really is in heaven, but heaven is actually right here with us. And what my friend feels is her mother's love right there present with her and her mother's love is reaching out to her to let her know how much she is loved.

I really need to believe that because I do not and cannot believe that a loving God would or could have the heart to separate us from those we love so much.

I know how dear and precious my children are to me and I hate being separated from them.

Is it possible that the Creator who created you and me in His image possesses the same, if not even more, love for His creation and understands how death impacts His own creation?

Once again, I need to believe that as well.

I come from the school that nothing can separate us from our loved one's. Not even death. And what seems like separation really isn't.

Maybe, just maybe our dear loved one's who have passed are more accessible than we are aware of and all we have to do is just speak to them and let them know how much they are missed. Maybe even though they are not here physically, they can still hear us. And they too are speaking to us in our hearts.

Where do our loved one's go? Perhaps their bodies have transformed, but their love endures forever.

And it is that love, their love, that is still here with us. To uphold us. To comfort us. To love us. Especially when we need them most.

Dedicated to the Maldonaldo Family in Loving Memory of their Beloved Criselda 'Chita' Maldonado.