You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone (rethinking the cup song)

      I know the song is old and everyone has heard it a million times by now, but I just learned of this song a few weeks ago.  Most likely the song was written about lover who was leaving and heading out to the next adventure, but when I heard it the song resonated on an entirely different level.  

    


A great rendition of the cup song...A must listen!!!

 Yesterday marked five years that my father took his ticket the long way 'round, and passed on from this world to the next.  But here is the funny thing, five years...and I still don't miss him. 

     Why?  Because he isn't gone.

      Sure I can't see his walk...or hear his talk...but it doesn't mean he is gone.  In fact in some ways without the physical limitations I feel as if we walk and talk together everyday.  When I look at my children, I know the ultimate legacy of any grandparent is being lived out.  When I have the opportunity to share something, to reach out and connect with another, when we celebrate family simchas, and when the Chabad House reaches certain milestones, I can feel my fathers hand on my shoulder walking with me.  

  When a loved one moves into the next world, the relationship doesn't cease to exist, just the dynamic changes.  The way we communicate becomes different, but the life, the legacy, and the soul of those we love stay with us for eternity.  If we choose to live with them, if we choose to carry them with us, and we live in a way that honors them, they never go away.

      I saw a quote earlier this week from an elderly woman "When my husband was dying, I said:  Moe how am I supposed to live without you?  He told me take all the love you have for me and spread it around."  What an unbelievable way to carry those with us.  Basically spread the love, share the kindness, and make the world a better place as a way of honoring and living with those who no longer walk among us.  

So I say to whomever wrote "The Cup Song"  its true we may miss them when they are gone...but we don't have to let them leave.

 

Posted on July 23, 2013 .