Last night I came across the story about a courageous young
man called Ben Breedlove. He died on Christmas Day after opening presents with
his family. He was only 18 years old. But what touched me more than anything is
how Ben lived the breadth of his life rather than just the length of it.
He had a show on YouTube called Breedlove TV where he gave girls
advice on how to date guys and he was a vivacious and spunky young man. So sure
of himself. So sure of his life. He had
a serious heart condition that tried to take him three times before it finally
did on Christmas Day. Though sometimes he feared for his life, at no point did
he become a victim to his condition. After
the second and third time he cheated death, he accepted his fate without
knowing he had but continued to live out his life as he was supposed to do.
Ben died suddenly but not unexpectedly on Christmas Day but not
before leaving behind the greatest gift any parent could ever want in the face
of their child’s death. He left behind two videos showing he was ready to move
to the next phase of his journey. The
videos showed a story of love, acceptance and a knowingness that all of us have
about how and when we are going to die. Ben’s videos show that he had overcome our
human fear of the unknown by being willing to move on to the greatest unknown
for us all – death and what happens after we die?
Ben produced a wordless video where he shows a snapshot of
his life on index cards. Though he doesn’t speak, his written words and facial
expressions say it all. I cried when I watched it for the first time because I
could not believe the maturity of this boy who looked so full of life but yet
was so willing to accept he was going to die. I watched it again so I could
really look at Ben and this time I was filled with joy because what I saw in
Ben’s eyes was the infinity of our existence. His eyes were bright, deep and
full of light, love and life. There was no fear in his eyes. There was no end in his
eyes. There was only life and continuity. And there was a deep feeling of faith
in him. An acceptance of the peace that comes after the struggle we face here
on earth.
I watched the video again for the third time this morning.
This time with my son. I showed it to my son because I wanted him to see that
life is for the living and that when the time comes for us to go there will be
no stopping it. I wanted him to understand that he needs to live the breadth of
his life because the length of it can be very short.
Ben’s last words on his index cards were that he was very
proud of his life, very proud of what he had accomplished and he was only 18
years old. How many of us at our older ages can say the same about our lives?
How many of us can be ready to face death with the same expectancy, acceptance
and love that Ben did?
Ben Breedlove’s last message to us all I believe is to live
life and be proud of who we are because none of us can cheat the greatest
unknown of our lives – death - so why live in fear of it? Ben Breedlove, an apt
last name because in his death he is still breeding love for us globally. RIP
Ben Breedlove. May you soar with the angels in the beautiful suit you had in
your last vision.
If you would like to watch Ben's moving story, I have attached the links here:
Part 1
Part 2
Amazing guy, just amazing.Nicely written Cath. I once heard that if we were taught from a young age to live with death at our shoulder, we may just appreciate what we have minute by minute and get on with what happens and stop moaning about what hasn't.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Ben touched me in ways I could not have imagined and I never met him. And I agree with you, to live, truly live, we must appreciate every second, every minute, every hour, every day we get and live it to the fullest.
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