Tonight's Sunset

Tonight's sunset was glorious; a huge, orange ball slowly floating down to the silhouetted tree line creating the beautiful hue of brilliance that I like to call the golden hour.  Slowly it sank, lower and lower, little by little and then it was gone.

That intersection of time when the earth's energy ball  finally disappears always holds a nanosecond of sadness for me.  Strange, I know it's going to happen, it simply must, yet it still leaves me in a moment of stunned awe - it's over.  This day is done, never to return.

This week I watched from afar as two friends died. Knowing they were in the hospital and not doing well I wondered if this was the beginning of their sunsets or just a clouded shadow over their life.  As time passed it become clearer, as they struggled for breath and were placed on  ventilators I knew their sun was setting.

Her life ended due to rejection from her double lung transplant.  The new lungs she received sustained her for 18 months longer then her native organs.  He died from Cystic Fibrosis, too sick, too many complications to receive a double lung transplant.  Their final sunset has come, their days on earth are done.  Both of them were younger then I.

Tonight I wanted to honor their lives.  As the sun began its' downward dissension I remembered them. While speaking their names I stopped and was mindful of the gift of today.  I enjoyed another golden hour, the sun dipping ever so languidly, turning trees into dark profiles before it's final descent and then, in a moment, the day was done, never to return.