The Hinge

Sometimes a person doesn't realize just how empty their life is but function under the premise that what they are currently doing is all they should expect of life. They remain content in that void until someone close to them dies. At that point, they can descend into a pit of worthlessness or put meaning into their actions and realize that there is more to life than mere existence. Clarence experienced just such an event. He was satisfied with life as it was, but soon realized that...
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Sometimes a person doesn't realize just how empty their life is but function under the premise that what they are currently doing is all they should expect of life. They remain content in that void until someone close to them dies. At that point, they can descend into a pit of worthlessness or put meaning into their actions and realize that there is more to life than mere existence. Clarence experienced just such an event. He was satisfied with life as it was, but soon realized that many more rewards could be experienced just by focusing himself on new and exciting activities, each of which opened up even more new and stimulating forces that helped guide him through the darkest of days. He began to realize that his interactions with others gave him the confidence to put self worth into his existence. It brought to him a feeling that he was helping and stimulating another person who was a victim of so much more trauma than he had ever realized one could endure. Little by little, he could see the results in this elderly person, and at the same time, he was making friends with people who in the past had only been associates. He realized he needed to establish a history of his past, and in doing so realized that almost nothing had been documented about his ancestors. This effort took on a primary driving force that propelled him into productive research. It also enabled him to develop feelings where none had existed before. These feelings provided him a place in the world to which many of us strive to reach, and only a select few really reach with the intensity and satisfaction that he achieved. And, along the way, he became a person who touched the lives of people spanning five generations. He learned to live, love, nurture, and be nurtured by, those of all ages around him.