Tragedies This Week
Lives Lived with Passion
My heart is heavy this morning, my thoughts are many; too many to gather or to share...
First an Olympian takes to the ice in shock of her Mothers' sudden death secondary to a heart-attack after arriving from her homeland; arriving at the sight of the Olympics to watch her daughter compete on the ice. Her daughter still manages to find her courage and takes the ice, skating for her Mother; somehow knowing that her Mom is watching. She skates with "passion", she does her best, she manages to even smile while maneuvering spins, jumps and twirls ~ Her tears hold off until the very end of her performance. She held the world by their hearts as they watched as they wondered how she could possibly have found her way on the ice; how she could have found the strength to move out of her shock and pain given the trauma she had just witnessed by the sudden and unexpected death of her Mother...
She has passion, she was doing what she loved and she knew her Mother was watching and would be proud!
Many watched and found they had their own grief reactions stirred up; old feelings that rose like the phoenix from the ashes of unresolved pain of loss as they watched; they once again felt their own pain as they connected; they felt the connection, they cried once again, and we were all amazed at the resiliency of one young woman's spirit.
It was her passion, her zest for life, her knowing that her Mother would want her to go on, live your dream!
~~~~~
Yesterday... Tragedy... Witnessed by so many...
Dawn a seasoned trainer at Seaworld, living her passion, a beautiful woman, loving Shamu, loving the Orca Whales, living her passion, her dream...
What in the world happened? How could this be? This beautiful woman, who knew as a child that she would love and train this magnificent creatures that we all flock to SeaWorld to watch, to be captivated by... dead. Just like that, gone from our lives, gone from the whales, from her colleagues, from the adoring people who come from all over the world; some lucky enough to meet her.
I met Dawn last year and she was a lively and beautiful woman, a woman filled with "passion", living "THE DREAM", doing what she knew she would do since the age of 9 years old!
Olivia (OK, who is Olivia readers?) is now 9 years old, she too has passion, she too has dreams of what she hopes, wants and knows ~
When Dawn spoke of the Orca her eyes twinkled, her face became animated with such joy, such love and life! Once knew immediately that she was indeed living the "dream", living and exuding such "passion"! What a gentle soul; an old soul to be certain and one of "magic", of kindness and of such power for such a little thing! I so enjoyed talking with her; she had such power behind her, such beauty in and around her.
My heart aches for all those who love her, for her whales and for all who will miss her presence and her passion here on earth.
Gone too Soon Dawn, you are gone too soon. So many will miss you; the two leggeds and the swimming-creatures.
~~~~
Something must have happened... something terrible went wrong... I cannot believe that her beloved whale would have just gone mad, I can't stand it that they call them "killer whales", after all why can't they call them "Orca". Could it be that he "dragged" her into the water to her death, but really wanted her to "play" with him rather than stand on the platform? Could it have been a horrible accident born from the whales love of Dawn? Just a horrible horrible accident ~
She loved her whales, she lived her passion. It does no good to now refer to them as "killers", it does not do her any good; it does not make her passion and her love of her whales stand for the beauty that was hers. People need to respect and honor her and her work, her life, her passion. In doing that we must honor her choices and her whales, her beloved Orca. Something went terribly wrong yesterday.
~~~~~
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop" (Mother Teresa)
We will miss you Dawn, we were honored to have you love the Orca, to play with wild abandon and to encourage us to find and feed and know passion.
~~~
Walk In Beauty,
DrSES
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8 comments:
What a month it has been with loss, shock and
grief. The Olympics, now Sea World.
The incidents do make me go back to remember, re-live the events of loss in my life and others. Sherry, you do say it well, expressing, putting words in order and strength
As a reader and friend, I found this day's blog
tearful, moving and stunning.
We NEVER know when our # is up.
ENJOY YOUR LUNCH, EVERYONE !!!!
Though this blog was written with a heavy heart, I do hope we, as readers send our prayers to all.
Okay - sure some us got what Joan called a sick feeling in our stomach when we read...how easy to DO something this morning than tend to that sick feeling in my gut. It may have stirred up a memory for you. What did you do with that memory?
I remember taking my son to Sea World. We went to the Shamu show first. WE were in the 1st row and Shamu got hurt during the show. Lots of blood in the water and my son fainted. Shamu was tended to by the Sea World staff, as well as my son receiving first aid.
All the smelling salts in the world could not have helped him...he never recovered and our day at Sea World was over. What does this have to do with grief & healing heartaches?
Well, instead of ACCEPTING my child's extreme sensitivity and seeing it as a gift, I was ANGRY that our day at Sea World was ruined.
Surely, ANGER & ACCEPTANCE must ring a bell.
So...if this blog made you feel sick...tend to it when you can, as well as sending out lots of prayers.
PS to Olivia: Because of you, I went out and played with 2 little girls in the snow. Their mother let me borrow boots and I made my very 1st snowball and the girls helped me make my very first snowwoman. We put lots of jewelry on her, so everyone would know she was a girl. Snow pretty much melted, but the "jewels" are still there.
Who is Olivia? She is my hero, who reminds me to take very good care of the child within me.
My heart goes out to Dawn's family. I feel deeply for the skater who's Mom came to see her and died so suddenly. I will watch her free skate tonight and cheer for her. Today is the gift we have in our life. Live every moment as though you really know we have no promise of tomorrow. It is the only chance we have to be knd, to show caring, to love, to laugh, to reach out and lift up someone we know, or to forge a new path to friendship.
While my heart too feels sad, I send warm thoughts and tender feelings to the families just now beginning their "journey's through grief. I wish them a visit to this blog to join the ever growing group of tender hearts.
What an awesome idea.
INVITE them to this blog.
when they are ready.
So I guess something just went wrong and we are not supposed to be angry with the beautiful whale. I did not think he meant to do any harm.
Well,tragedy surrounds us, each and everyday, it's how we chose to cope with it that mattes the most. I've been to Sea World many times over the years since i was a child, and I've been nothing but amazed that simple regular people can have such determination, courage, and love for these Orca's, Shamu's, Killer Whales. Whatever they chose to be in life, they put their lives on the line daily, just like firefighters, paramedics, policemen. Dawn dreamed of and lived to be with her Orca, to show people how amazing they truly are, and how smart, and playful, yes playful. I'm sure knowing he had killed before, but she trusted, him just like we must. Perhaps not enough to get in a tank with these enormous beautiful creatures of God, but to go and watch in amazement like millions of others, you can't be guaranteed a fun day at an amuzement park, you can't be guaranteed you'll arrive or leave safely, but you trust you will. Just like she did. I, unlike Dr SES, didn't get the opportunity to meet Dawn, but from every single photo I have viewed, she had an honest love and admiration for this Orca unlike anything I've seen. She was truly proud of her part in his show. I am truly sorry that she had to die, that people had to witness it, but I'm quite sure that she died proud of what she did and would want no harm to come to him. Life is full if surprises, some good, some great, some horrific. We can't have just a beautiful day at the park each day of our lives, or we wouldn't need our Dear Dr. Sherry! So we must grieve, for Dawn, for that Canadian girls dream of Olymic Gold, in spite of the fact that her mother is watching from a different place. The luge sledder...So much tragedy, but so much triumph, as we all need to be Olympians, and go for the gold in life, each and every day! It's is a gift people, not a guarantee!
The post above this really summed up everything quite eloquently.
Saying we "all need to be Olympians," is something to strive for. Some of us have trouble being warriors, but maybe we can be Olympians. I cannot remember the full promise that the Special Olympians take, I recall something about being brave in my attempt.
Let us be brave.
x
My heart goes out to Dawns family and the beautiful people she worked with, I have been to the show several times thruout the years. The Ocras are beautiful animals and we will probably never know why he did this horrible thing. I do hope the employees and families will heal and the families who were there when this happened. My prayers are with them. Hope they keep on reading the blogs to find peace and comfort.
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