I had the privilege yesterday to sit with a friend at the hospital in the “Surgery Waiting Room.”  Okay, that is holy ground if ever there is any.  The emotions in the place are thick.  The memories for me in the place are rampant.  Raw fear.  Blind hope.  Belief revealed.

I stood apart as a doctor conferred with the family of a woman still in surgery.  I couldn’t and didn’t try to hear what he was saying but I couldn’t miss the sound of agony in the young woman’s voice as she asked the doctor to “Tell her I love her!” The kind physician went back to continue the surgery after hugging the young woman and then she collapsed into the arms of the one next her, her sobs deep and unabated.

Holy ground waiting rooms.

Life.  Death.  Will it go well?  Do we have more time?  How bad is their health?  What is happening?  What will happen?? And the all-encompassing, soul-defining, most vital question rises from the depths – do they know I love them?

When I lost a dear friend many years ago in an accident I wasn’t sure he knew that I loved him.  The role he played in my life, in my husband’s life, and in our family was so huge that I think I took him for granted and didn’t ever tell him.  I know he knows now that I did and do, but still…I want the people in my life to know.  I don’t want them to wonder.  I want to add to the strength of their hearts by voicing my love, voicing the goodness that I see and experience in their lives.  I want to add to the strength of my own heart by being certain that I am conveying all the love that I possess; passing back to those dear to me that which is most valuable to me – my heart for them.

One of my sons left this morning, driving to a new state, moving to a new season.  Now I wait to hear of his safe arrival.  I’m not holding my breath and pacing around the house drinking stale coffee, but my heart is attentive.  I’m waiting.  It is a long drive.  There are many waiting rooms in this holy ground we all find ourselves living in.  As we wait, for so much and for so many, let’s strengthen the hearts of those dear to us and make sure they know the vital truth.  They are loved.  Tell them.