United or Created Enemies...

I recently read a line in a book that has been churning around in my brain, you know, in that spot that processes things you had no intention of ever really thinking about again...
"Sharing the struggles of life and death united even enemies, it was said."

Sharing - Struggles - Life - Death - United - Enemies... each one of those words alone can evoke a strong memory, but when you put them together to form a concise thought...powerful!

I have shared the struggles of life in one of the most intimate of ways throughout all of my tender childhood days into adulthood - with my sister. And together we shared the months of our father's failing health that led to his final days, and eventual death. We sat on opposite sides of his bed, watching him gasp for his final breaths of life.

But for us, these struggles, of life and death proved to be too much. The pain in our past cultivated separation and competition and deep feelings of misplaced hurt. Instead of uniting enemies, our life's have seemed to create them...

But the story doesn't end here. I will still hope! My God is a God whom can perform miracles! I will not let anyone tell me, even me, that my relationship with my sister is impossible. I will not let anything take away my hope. But rather, I will recognize the reality, I will remember the the pain, and I will hope for the future, as I live each day.

"Everything is possible for him who believes." Mark 9:23

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Carole Smith

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