Life: The Great & Terrible Beauty

Tattered Heart by Amanda Carrington

My youngest daughter, who is twenty-two, was quietly crying on our sofa as she read the last pages in the last book of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. She came into the kitchen when she was done, her beautiful, freckled face wet with tears and I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tight. As we talked about the book, the series, and the love story we both wept. It struck me then...what would you do for a love like that, a love that saves the world, but leaves you feeling as if YOUR world has ended? Some people search their entire lives for a love that potent and die never having touched it. Others hold themselves back, keeping a distance from such things for fear of the pain and loss that is inevitable, which is greater than their desire to truly experience love full strength. And then...there are those rare, rare few who get to have that kind of love for a human lifetime.

It occurs to me that my child has gotten a real glimpse into the wonder, magic, and heartache that simply living a life fully invested will bring. It isn't an easy lesson for me to watch on her young face and even more difficult for her to learn, but it's important. She will experience the feelings of frustration, confusion, and sorrow the ending of the books brought to her many times over throughout the course of her life. She must learn how to allow those things to shape the woman she becomes. Do they crush her spirit or inspire her to something great? All of that remains to be seen, but I'm rooting for her every step of the way!

What a beautiful skill set to be able to create something so powerful and accurate merely by the proper selection of words strung together! And what a deep reminder of just how precious a love that is true can be. If we always remembered how finite this life is and how abruptly things can end, we'd treat it more like the treasure it is and go to extraordinary means to protect it.