Persistent Hope

"Hope is patience with the lamp lit." - Tertullian, an early Centurion Roman author

Just recently an elderly woman passed away just hours after her husband, they had been married for over 70 years. Thanks to the sufficiency of the internet I was able to find out that this is not uncommon for elderly couples being married over 60 years. In fact it happens quite frequently, almost on a weekly basis.
I suppose that after being together that many years and counting on each other and loving each other, the still living spouse's flicker of hope may have ran out when their other half passes away. When a couple are married that many years, I am sure their hope had become entwined together as one. Which makes love and hope the most sought after four letter words in the English language.

I've always admired the strength and hope of those born generations before me. Those that I have come across to know personally who were born in the 1940's and 1950's, I have come to admire the most. It seems as though their generation's stamina was built on a persistent hope, one where the lamp of hope always stayed lit to the very end.

One of the most unusual stories of hope dimming it's light in the end, happened in 2004. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1918. Oh, they came close many times but failed. Whether it was their first baseman Bill Buckner letting a ground ball go between his legs in a World Series game to which they eventually lost the series, to 2003 Championship Game 7 and losing in the bottom of the 11th inning to the Yankees. Some Boston fans called it a lifelong curse after they traded away Babe Ruth in 1920.

Boston Red Sox fans are like Chicago Cub fans, becoming a fan is passed down from generation to generation within their own families. Therefore they are considered true die-hard fans, sticking with their team who's losing ways has been long and frustrating. You could probably add Cleveland in this category,too.

Amazingly, in the next few days after the Boston Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004 after a drought of 86 years, there was a steady decline in the elderly Red Sox population. In dramatic fashion it seemed as though they held on just long enough to see their beloved team finally win a championship, then were able to pass away with their hopes victoriously completed. They kept their hope alive just in time to see it not fail. They died in peace.

A persistent hope is what we all cling to, whether it's for our favorite sports team, the one's we love, for our extended family, or even just for life in general. And there isn't anything wrong with that.
So keep that hope light lit, victory is just around the corner. Even if your a Chicago Cubs fan.