Hope

I have thought a great deal about this word lately: hope. What does it really apply to? Some things probably deserve the idea of hope more than others. Is it hope to wonder if you are gonna get to the fast-food drive thru just in time for that last serving of breakfast? That nice hot sausage and egg sandwich probably will be there regardless. I really believe hope is more of that dragging through the dirt, bleeding wounds of the soul, staggering in agonized steps looking to know you WILL see better days. In talking with someone who has lost her child shortly after birth, I realized how important hope really is. This person lost a very beautiful baby boy, but afterwords told me that they plan to have another child. THAT gaze ahead despite such a terrible loss is hope.
I know someone else whose mother is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Despite how down her mother gets, regardless of how afraid she is for her mother, she holds to the devoted understanding that her mother needs the support of anyone who can reach out to her to keep the flames of hope burning. That support is another kind of hope that not only lies within those who face these challenges, but also is shared by those close to them. Hope isn't something a person should have by themselves, but that they should stand with as many other people around them who share the same vision and rise above their adversity together. This emotion is one of the qualities that separates the real people from those who fear loss so much, they already see themselves or whatever they cling to as lost.