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Help me please. I lost my father about a month ago and I am unable to cope with his absence from my life. Though I have a family, and in my fifties I feel my life is hollow ,. We were very close and even at my age took his opinion in almost everything. We would talk daily for hours on the phone. Now I am lonely even with a loving husband and daughter.What can I do?

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Hi Etedal,

It seems like you have spent more time with your father right throughout your lifetime, and its not something many children would do when they get older. Most of us simply get busy with our own lifestyles and forget to spend time with our parents, hoping that they will be there everyday. But all of a sudden we lose our loved ones, and then only we feel the guilt of not doing our part by giving back what they deserved. Have you noticed the children who just ask their parents to leave the house or put themselves in 'elderly care centers' when they get older, forgetting all what the parents have done to them ? Yes, the society is even as cruel as that. There was a story of a millionaire here whose mother is said to be chased out of him home and had to live in a small cottage. Comparing to them you are nowhere near that and you can be proud of yourself for the way you treated him.

In your case, i'm sure you talking to your father daily for hours is something really special you did for him. And he must have been very fortunate to have a daughter like you. Yes, you might feel lonely with his absence, but remember you are feeling it because you had a special connection with him as a child, which he must have loved too. The memories and the way you treated him should be enough to get rid of the regrets and loneliness. Show love to your loved ones, you never know when you or they might leave this world !

- Janaka
Keep right on speaking with your father every day. And then pass the tradition forward by cultivating the same conversation with another young person--your daughter, a niece, nephew or whomever. The hole in your heart that is the loss of your father doesn't go away but it does fill in with beautiful memories.

Be Well, Kathleen

I lost both my daughter and my husband. It is awful but it gets better. Our Pastor, my friend, lost his daughter as well. He said, you can get bitter, or you can get better. I believe that there is a reason for everything. In my case, I had no choice but to become a better parent for my remaining children.

It helps me to realize that I am far from alone. For many people, death is an inevitable weekly or monthly occurrence. In Africa, so many orphans, parents, wives, husbands have lost their parents, spouses, children to AIDs, or Ebola or malaria. We go on its what we do and we give to each other. So many people have died in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Bosnia, Ukrainia. Life is tough, we must care about each other.

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