The Water in the Well
The Water in the Well
When a group of people are engaged in discussion about how things are in the world, it seems that inevitably, someone will offer up the old, tried and true adage that “Hell can’t be any worse than it is here.” Some, who were involved in or witnessed the discussion, will look back at the time nostalgically years later.
When “years later” arrives, and things here in the world are even worse, (hasn’t that been the general pattern all along?), those enjoying the memories of that conversation are happily recalling something they genuinely love remembering that had happened at a memorable point in their lives.
If you think about it, those people, upon arriving in Hell, would likely be remembering that same conversation with even more nostalgic feelings than the original, living, nostalgic folks are.
“You don’t miss the water ‘til the well runs dry” is an old saying that, to me, when addressed to another person, implies that the addressed person lost someone or some thing they had taken for granted, and the only reason they’re sad is because the person or thing they took for granted won’t be there for them to use anymore.
My maternal grandmother died when I was seven years old, and at the end of the funeral at the cemetery, a woman came up to my mother and uttered that line to her. I didn’t understand what it meant, but my mother reacted by fainting and then got smelling salts. That left a mark on my memory because I didn’t understand the saying, and at the time, I thought my mother had died.
The fact that the woman had said that to my mother and caused her to faint angered many of the people there, and anyone that knew our family and especially my mother, knew it was a most awful thing to say because it simply wasn’t true by any stretch of the imagination.
I didn’t know who the woman who made the remark was and I still don’t. I’ve always thought that she must have been a little off her rocker, or maybe she actually thought that it was a proper thing to say to a grieving person.
I’m not sure if my mother knew the woman or not. I never heard anyone who was there ever talking about who the woman was or why she might have said what she did, so it’s something for which I’ve never had any real resolution.
I thought she was the worst lady in the world, but I still didn’t know exactly why.
I can’t pin down the date when I changed my opinion, but I believe it was during my teenage years when I came to the realization that I believed the lady to have been innocent of any wrongdoing. I remembered the way she said it; her expression and the tone of her voice. Innocence was what I saw.
I believe she thought the saying would be an appropriate thing to say to a grieving person, and that she said it out of concern for my mother at the time of her loss – not to mock or hurt her. She was a rather old lady and possibly dementia or Alzheimer’s was setting, or had set in – the same illness from which my mother would eventually die.
It feels good to have forgiven the lady, and myself.
The Water in the Well © free-reign 2019
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So great that you forgave her my friend.
I wonder how many of us walk around with unforgiveness in our hearts for things that we have misinterpreted, or that somebody else have shared with us that is not a truth.
Best is to clear the barracks every morning upon waking up and to be thankful for the gift of another day. There's no place for negativity and baggage that can poison the soul.
Blessings!
It's relatively easy to correct ourselves once we gain a better understanding of the facts. It's still amazing to me though, that some of us can't find it in ourselves to forgive even when we've learned we were wrong about something, or we misunderstood.
I think that our holding onto something like that for very long is very damaging to everyone involved, but especially damaging to us.
So true and then we lead a miserable life and we wonder why.
There is great healing in forgiveness my friend.
Blessings!
I'm one of those people who always says the wrong thing around deaths. I feel a little as though you've forgiven me. Nice account.
That's awesome! It's always a plus when we can help someone else find resolution or just make things better! Thank you! :)
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Thanks for share your story
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Well writing.
Thank you!
Perhaps it's all relative and what we judge our lives by is not the real yardstick to use as it changes, and like that we are in quicksand. Find the changeless and find peace.
That's a very good take on it! I've often looked back at personal changes that I've been made aware of throughout my life, and sometimes I wonder about that yardstick, and whether or not it was properly calibrated to begin with.
Perhaps she was right in her minds eye, not quite something to express out loud, expression in a way she interpreted it. Any adult hearing it when said could quietly have rectified right there and then, people shudder to correct others.
Each individual expresses emotion in a variety of ways, some find it difficult, others arrive saying whatever to just fill the gap.
Getting beyond the remark, it took a long time for a young mind to comprehend, so the adults have failed the child in not explaining fully at the time.
I agree, the adults failed in that incident, to try to explain to the children present what the commotion was all about. It didn't seem too important to analyze how kids took things much beck then, or that they were considered worthy to have things fully explained to them.
I'm not really sure if we've progressed any on that even today!
A great read, @free-reign. Sometimes a well-intentioned person says the wrong thing at the worst of times.
I’m glad you were able to forgive her for upsetting your mother.
I am glad too, @redheadpei, that I finally got to that point of forgiveness over something that sat in the back of my mind for years. It was a relief!
That's why I avoid funerals :)
When I was little I used to feel so nervous around funerals that I started to make jokes or laugh about anything. Death can be a very revealing experience for relatives and people around. The interesting thing about your story is that time somehoe manages to help us heal, to a point that sometimes we do not even remember the offense or its cause.
It helped that you were little and that it wasa confusing situation. In any case, nothing like leaving behind hurtful memories or better yet, changing our reactions to them.
Yes, as I wrote in another reply, I never wanted to ask my mother about the incident because I thought that if she recalled it she may faint again or something, even years after it had happened. I'm thankful for my mind's changing to wanting to forgive her.
“You don’t miss the water ‘til the well runs dry” That is true but coming back to my let go blog and your comment on there , it would be great if we had a way of means to make sure that before the well turns day we already be thinking of misging the water, wouldnt that be a great life hack?
Haha, yes it would! I think that possibly around the time when the saying became popular, they may have still been digging the wells by hand?
Glad that you have made peace with that part of your life 😊😊
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I am too! It's been a while since I figured this all out and forgave the lady, but when I think of it now, something that ate at me for a part of my life, is now a nice memory!
Thank you for sharing @free-reign 🙏
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Thank you for reading and commenting @wonderwop! :)
My heart goes to you.
It takes a lot of courage to forgive someone and mostly to open up and say it out loud.
Thank you! I never wanted to ask my mother about the incident, for fear it would have a bad affect on her all over again from remembering it, so I kind of had to figure things out on my own. It was tough.
That's why I never say anything during funeral except the cliche lines like 'I'm sorry for your loss' and went on my way. TBH, there are some funerals I'm forced to attend that I did not have any feelings towards the bereavement family, but thank God I didn't do anything stupid.
My grandma's funeral was the first funeral I attended, and by the time I was 11, all my grandparents were gone. Personally, I am not having a funeral, and I'm putting it in my will. I've never said much at all to people at funerals or the viewings to folks. I typically just sign the book.
Hi @free-reign. I too know the meaning from my mom to be that of taking advantage of a person until that person is no longer in your life. Only then do you realize how important that person was to your well being or livelihood. I remember that phrase being said hundreds of times in my house growing up.
People say things for lots of reasons. And we may never know why. But to say that to a grieving person on the day of their loss is unthinkable. So glad you have put the incident in it's rightful place...the past and moved on.
Thanks for reading! Yes, it sounds like you know this saying well, it being said by your family many times. My mother and grandmother were very close, and my grandma's death was so hard on my mother to being with. She had also lost her dad, my grandfather, when he died a few years before I was born.
Oh my goodness! That must have been terribly traumatic to lose your grandmother then have your mother faint, thinking she was dying, at her funeral!
So glad you could forgive and feel some healing from that incident!
One must never underestimate the power of words, which I'm sure you realized after going through that experience!
Thanks for sharing!
It stayed with me for a long time, and I think it was that which I had observed - her age, demeanor and tone of voice - that stuck in the back of my mind, waiting for the right time when I could fully understand what it was holding for me... the truth! Glad that I finally recognized it!
It's very possible she meant what she said in the most positive way, in that she really meant "It's only now you'll realise how much you'll miss her." Simple word choices can have such a major impact on anything.
My mom (and dad) used to ask me, when I was having a problem completing a task, "Don't you know how to do that?" Of course I always took issue with that because it seemed to be insulting. "Do you know how to do that?" asks the same way without being accusing. Now, many years later, I know better and that they just didn't know how to raise a child (Hah! Like any of us do), but at the time I resented it.
It's good that you can forgive her and move on. That is a very important life skill to have. Living with anger and bitterness helps no one.
That's what I think happened, and your metaphor is spot on. She was trying to comfort, not provoke.
Haha, I'm with you on that one! Looking back at my parents after having been a parent myself , they were absolutely clueless about so many things, but there isn't much we can do about it, or even understand it in real time.
I've always tried to reconcile the differences I've had with others. Sometimes, like in this case, it can go on for a long time and then the answer just pops up and makes me wonder where the hell I've been or what have I been thinking about, to not have realized earlier.
I wish all had a positive outcome like this one did!
I'm glad you came to the forgiveness stage, it's so much easier on your heart.
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That is so true @blueeyes8960, and I'm grateful I got there, especially in this case that was so troubling.
Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. It’s not easy, especially with regard to emotional wounds. But forgiving let’s you start fresh, and shed old baggage and ill feelings that really don’t serve you. It was a terrible thing that woman said. But people feel so awkward at funerals. They often say odd things that are of zero comfort!
I agree, it is wonderful! It's like a hefty weight that we've been carrying around and trying real hard not to notice, suddenly being lifted away when we're able to forgive.
"You don't miss the water until the well dries" very good saying, we sometimes act like fools without knowing that by arguing we don't get anywhere, we just get irritated and lose friendships because of that sometimes.
What you write is so true! Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Thanks for reading my post and commenting @carolinacardoza!
Howdy sir free-reign! I think the old lady was trying to say something comforting like you came to the conclusive of also. Dementia is such a scourge, I'm sorry that your mother went through that.
Excellent story though and very thought-provoking!
Thank you Jonboy! Yeah, it was the way her looked to me when she looked at my mother and the softness with which she made the statement. I was standing very close to her. It's good that memory won out in the end for both of us!
I agree sir free-reign, that was quite a memorable moment!