悲しい出来事 A very sad happening

２０１３年のお盆は特別のお盆となってしまった。迎え盆の日に親戚での初盆のお手伝いが出来てホッとした翌日の朝早くに、訃報が届いた。８ヶ月もの間、病魔と懸命に闘っていた姪が逝ってしまったのである。４８歳の若さで職場では中堅で一番活躍していた彼女には中三と小六の二人の男の子がいる。無念さと悔しさの中で、残された彼女の夫と二人の子供達の人生最大の悲しみを目の前にしてただただ悲しみに寄り添うことしか出来ない。ただ、看病し続けていた彼女の母親、つまり義姉であるが、その義姉の口から出た言葉が何とも励まされる。「彼女の人生は短かかったけど太くて、その中で力一杯、精一杯生きてくれた」　５０％の確率で生きている私達である。生きた長さより、その密度というか、どれだけ本気で生きているかということである。姪は看護師として中堅的立場で責任感が強く、自分より、患者さんを優先していたという。いつも明るくあのスイートな声は誰からも愛されていたに違いない。お通夜、告別を通して、あのように多くの参列者をいただいた理由がわかった。３か月前に電話で話した時の彼女の声が忘れられない。ご冥福を祈りつつブログに思いをしたためました。
Bon season(the Buddhist festival of the dead) turned to be very sad this year. The first day of Bon gave me a chance to extend my help to one of our relatives who organized an open house to let his all relatives and friends pray for his wife who passed away 8 monts ago. Then the next morning rang our home telephone and a very sad news arrived. One of our nieces passed away early morning. She had been suffering from a cancer for the last eight months. She was only 48 years old, an experienced and able worker as a nurse. She had two boys, a third grader of a junior high school and a sixth grader of an elementary school. Facing the deepest sorrow given to her husband and two boys left behind, I couldn't do anything but just being beside them to share their feeling. In this atmosphere, what her mother( my sister-in-law) who had been nursing her daughter all through her struggle with disease to the last moment, said to me was very impressive and I was strongly encouraged. "Her life was short but very rich. In  her such short life, she stepped forward and tried to do her best. No regret."
We are surely living for 50% of safety. The quality of life depends on how we live, not on how long we live. Our niece as a responsible nurse, took care of her patients as her priority. She devoted herself to the others with her smiling face and sweet voice. She must have been loved by everybody. That's why so many people showed up in the funeral ceremony to express their condolences to her bereaved family on her death. Her sweet voice on telephone we talked over three months ago still remains in my ear. This blog is a Requiem for our dear niece.