Yesterday, I just read a quote which said: “Go laugh in the places you have cried. Change the narrative.”
That sort of what happened to Roberto.
Almost 20 years ago, his wife shockingly left him and flew to a different country to live with another man. She abandoned him with their 3 young kids.
Their house was the place where he discovered her infidelity and where he had traumatic memories of her abandonment and his sleepless, depressive days and nights.
Not too long, Roberto left their house to live and work overseas. He entrusted the house as well as the care of her teen kids to relatives for a while.
But about 5 years ago, his wife visited their house upon arrival from the international airport. She died of cancer in the hospital shortly thereafter.
“Please forgive me.”
That’s what Roberto’s wife told him through their eldest daughter and an aunt only hours before she died. Roberto was in grief and acceptance of what happened.
Sooner, Roberto went back home, only to be reminded of traumatic memories he has had with his wife. A mere touch, sound, or sight of their room would catapult him to the pain of the past.
Two years after his wife died, Roberto remarried to a loving woman and gained two step-kids into his family.
Roberto’s new, expanded family all live now in the same house. In the same place where he had suffered and cried so much before.
He has created new, happier stories. He forgives. He learns to fully let go. He keeps the past where it belongs. He celebrates even the smallest steps forward – for himself, his new wife, and now five young kids.
Roberto’s present narrative has effectively changed. Now, in a kind of poetic justice – “laugh in the places you have cried.”
“No poet sings because he must sing. At least no great poet does. A great poet sings because he chooses to sing.” — Unknown Source
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