NO LIMITS- BK 2- Forward. Beyond the Vale

NO  LIMITS- Forward .. Book 2

 

Beyond the Vale…… 

Chris Ritchey Source

 

Beyond the Vale? What is the meaning, a 14th  century  word, a vale ( valley  of tears )

passed away

verb(euphemism) (past of, pass away) (to die)

For the past three years every  month  I  have written of my  son, his life , the love he gave us and we gave in return,   the journey  from hell that saw us diminished, changed and crippled with  grief.

Any  mother  who  has lost her son or daughter knows without my  explaining the  “gutting of grief”  No  explanation is required. You  can find all the 36 links to  those months of writing  in the last Chapter of Book One – No  Limits:

 

January 3rd – NO LIMITS- Chapter 35- Chris Ritchey

Readers, who  are now reading this forward of Book 2. may  not understand, may not believe, will try and find “logical” explanations, even call me  demented, out of my  mind.   The tragedy  of losing a child will change you, you  are no  longer the person after such  a passing than you were before. It  isn’t just mothers, fathers and sisters , death   defines the “new” you, you do  become  less than before, and we are irrevocably  changed.

I wonder, how many  who  start to  read this will finish it? How many  will think yes she has definitely  lost the plot and how many  who  have so  far survived their grief will recognize the traits and actions in themselves .

After someone , who  means more to  you  than your own life passes, and NO!  it doesn’t have to  be a son, daughter, there are a great many  levels of love of those in our worlds; have you  looked for the signs? No  matter your religious or non religious beliefs?

I believe,  we want to  make sure somehow  those loved ones aren’t totally  lost to  us forever, a confirmation the love that was so  all compelling in our lives someone is still out there in another form, sending and reaching out signals . A great many  articles blogs etc have been written on the subject, for instance

https://www.joincake.com/blog/signs-from-deceased-loved-ones/

When Chris was dying in that horrible ICU room with  the “gang of grief” hovering, waiting to  pull the plug…. ..my  daughter ( as I  have written) said to  him.

‘ Chris come home and see me anytime’ ,

I  remember thinking:

Oh my  god  has she not realized he will never come home , or is she trying to  give him last words of comfort? 

And then she left the room, I watched  as almost imperceptible to my  eyes  the colour of his face  changed before me as the blood drained and settled.

 

My  beautiful son who  had been so  full of life and love and energy  , what happened to  those parts of him  not hooked up  to  machines. Where did they  “settle “? Does all that love and energy  and “life force” just dissipate  and decay as our  cells, atoms and chemicals that make up  our bodies?  We do  know,  as explored in writing in the previous No  Limits ,mothers carry  the DNA of our child in our bodies for decades after they  have been birthed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I  am, sure we all in our families have the ” dying tales”, the “phenomenon of losing “and what has happened to  us,  the anecdotal evidence of family  history when the “vale of tears” comes   our lives.

My  father, had told me of losing his stepfather, a man he loved profoundly , rushing back on emergency  leave from his ship,  as this most important man in his life  was passing, he was allowed into  the room to  say  his solitary  goodbye. He told me once that sitting there trying to  be  a brave soul , “Uncle Jacks’ heart stopped, he went to  reach to  kiss his forehead and there was some force, very  briefly  that blocked his way . He always thought it was the soul leaving the body. not a religious man by  any  sense of the term, and maybe it was his own being that stopped that forward momentum , but well….. he believed it so  I  did.

It seems to  me that  belief of family  and religious structure gets all mythized in books, bibles, religious beliefs, we trust  what our community  , no  matter what part of the world or what religious community   tells us for thousands of years and beyond that .

We as humans need to  believe there is so much  more but by  the same token will scoff as “ghosts” , make light of what happens to  some. Why , skepticism  is all well and good.  I will welcome the readers skepticism .  And so  it begins>>>>>>>

QUOTE  CHRISTOPHER RITCHEY 

“Nothing should be hidden or untouchable, if it is your truth and you stand behind it – no one should be able to silence you “