Words I Love, Volume 7

Friends of grieving widows and widowers often advise them, after a certain point, that they need to “get on with their lives.” “Life goes on,” they say, implying that the deceased loved ones are forever gone—remaining only in the cherished memories of their loved ones. The widows and widowers are told that they will be united with their loved ones, at long last, when they themselves depart this life. In the meantime, they must “get on with their lives.” But are we, as human beings, dependent totally upon our earthly bodies for our existence? If not, is it so that, when we survive the death of the body, we must “depart” from our loved ones in order to enter the afterlife? Here on Earth, if we can conceive that we might be able to continue living with our “departed” loved ones in a spiritual way, is it possible that we might then discover that we actually can? The poems of Words I Love might be considered, by some, to be the wishful thinking of a bereaved widower. On the other hand, the poems could be considered to be an actual dialogue between an earthly beau and his heavenly belle.

Author Biography

Charles Santiago is a retired postal worker living in Tallahassee, Florida. When he is not writing poems about his continued experience with his wife, he enjoys performing solo guitar at restaurants and other venues. He and his wife were married for thirty years when they were “separated” by her passing “away.”