Yesterday, I posted a blog concerning the fact that Haitians are having to forego funeral services for their loved ones because of the desperate situation in their country.  In a country where funeral services are enshrined and embedded as integral to their culture, this is yet another body blow to a country that has seen more than its fair share of suffering lately.

Ironically, as I was writing the post yesterday, Haitians were marking the day as a National Day of Mourning.  When I found out later that day that Haitians were gathering to mourn for their lost loved ones in an expression of national solidarity, I was deeply moved.  Rather than giving up, the Haitian people found a way to innovate, adapt, and overcome.  Funeral services may not be practical or possible right now but Haitians recognize the importance of grief and remembering the dead.  In so doing, they taught us  lesson-not only in the importance of perseverance but also the importance of dealing with grief in life.  No one would have blamed the country for bypassing such a Day of Mourning given all the pressing human needs.  However, Haitians stoppped to recognize that life and death must be shared, remembered, celebrated, and yes, grieved.  What a lesson for us who are sometimes so busy with the minutiae of our own lives we fail to stop and recognize these different aspects of our own lives.