Amanda

 

Amanda

 

There is beauty on the outside and then there is beauty on the inside.  When the two come together in the same being it is rare and incredibly precious.  You know you are witnessing true beauty as their light shines so very bright.

Amanda was just that light.  She entered a room and washed it with her light and everyone smiled.  We all smiled around Amanda because she smiled at the world.  She loved life and her place in it and we could all see that every day. Beautiful people sometimes have beautiful children and Amanda had three and their lights continue to shine.

One day Amanda’s light dimed very slightly as she heard the news.  A slow dim that suspended in time as others digested the inevitable.  All our lights dimed but then we noticed that Amanda’s light was shining through it all.  We felt ashamed of our dimed lights and did our best to reflect Amanda’s bright, white light.  There was, however, no competing with that light so we just looked on in awe. 

Over time the light still shone but a slow fade trickled in from the edges.  We could see the fade but ignored its presence and focused on the centre of the light.  Not once did that fade in all those long and difficult days.  She shone, so we shone.

The day arrived and we took our lights and gathered around Amanda’s dimming light.  Slowly and with enormous grace her light faded until it was almost gone.  Afterwards, if we looked very carefully we could see the smallest pin prick of a light glowing.  Some of us gathered it up and put it in our pockets to carry around with us.

When the day came to say goodbye I was not there.  Instead I was by a deep green pond flooded with bright sunshine and it was there that I saw them.  Hovering and flickering their lights as they dusted in and out of the lilies.  Beautiful shining dragonflies carrying their lights in their wings.  As I stood they flew high up into the blue sky before circling me and bathing me in the most precious light of all.  She was, indeed here and she has always been here.  Her light was in those delicate but powerful wings.  Just look into the light and she will shine back very brightly indeed.

This is Amanda