A wake-up call, so to speak.
Something happened last night on the way to the theatre down the road, in Coquitlam, that really affected me.
We were driving along Lougheed Hwy. at about 6:45 last night. It was dark, and raining lightly. Up ahead, we could see what looked like a traffic jam, and a whole bunch of flashing lights. As we got closer, we noticed a car pulled over to the side of the road with it’s four-ways on, and one headlight bashed out. A moment later, we saw why. In the middle of the road, in the dark except for all the flashing lights, lay a tarp covering most of a body. The tarp was yellow, and dirty, and out of one end of it, I could see what was someone’s head of hair. Someone had just lost their life.
The news feeds us a daily barrage of this sort of material. I hate to say it, but I’m almost desensitized when I watch the news. And, it’s not like I haven’t seen some horrific accidents in my past that have ended up with someone losing their life in front of my eyes. I guess it’s just been a while since I saw such a sad scene that was so fresh. My heart sunk thinking of that person’s family — A wife, a parent, or sibling who will never have another moment their loved one again. The story of that person’s life ended just then.
It’s a strange coincidence (or is it?) that Vern and I had chosen “Big Fish” to see last night. A story of a dying father who tells his son the stories of his life… with a flair of embellishment to make the tales more interesting. By the end of the movie I was beside myself with heartache. I can’t tell you why this particular misfortune hit me so hard. Perhaps it was the combination of a well-acted story with the fresh tragedy that I’d encountered that caused the grief — Regardless, I do know that I’ll not let this lesson pass me by without consideration.
I think I’ll end this entry with one of my favourite quotes, which I try to live by every day:
“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”
~ Henry Miller
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wonderful quote to live by – i love da mr. miller – and ms. nin as well
Big Fish… Beautifully metaphorical and provides a reminder about how to best live a life… even with the sometimes risks that come along with it. And so it goes….
Thanks for sharing that experience. I think it’s noteworthy that your desensitization was really just to the news of death, rather than to the event itself. Despite the flood of bad news, it really doesn’t hit home until it hits home.
Hate to say it, but I know exactly what you mean. I came across an almost identical situation when I was in Kazakhstan, except that the emergency services had not arrived yet, and the person was in the middle of the road. Didn’t feel very good that day.
Upon reflection, perhaps I wasn’t “desensitized” to death and tragedy, but instead “detached”. I guess sometimes it takes a reminder such as this to rectify detachment from the suffering that goes on every moment of every day somewhere.
That said, I’m going to try my best to keep this reminder close, and to be extremely thankful for the moments that I have with the amazing people around me.