Collateral Beauty

What does that mean to you? I just watched a stirring movie entitled this very title. I am full of emotion. Will Smith captured the pain while his wife character captured the healing. What a moving story!
As a lot of you know, the loss of my kids derailed my life. My mind was and has never been the same. I don't know how it really can be with that much trauma! Losing them was losing my life!

I went in search of the meaning of these words "Collateral Beauty".
Collateral is defined as an asset that a borrower offers as a way for a lender to secure a loan. Beauty is defined as a combination of qualities that pleases the aesthetic senses.

 I took this one step further looking for an answer. I found Angela Fitch's answer:

Collateral beauty consists of: Valuable property (memories, life experiences, actions that tie one person to another) owned by two people in their mutual experience of life. The two people unconsciously agree that upon the death of one or the other, this property, which has a value and a beauty all it’s own, becomes solely owned by the survivor of the relationship. The beauty of that relationship will cause much sadness and grief, almost overwhelming the survivor at times. However, as healing begins to replace grief, the beautiful parts of the relationship can be treasured and valued again. Look for that inner beauty, and hold tightly to it.

One could take this a step further: God lent me my two beautiful children for a period of time(Collateral). We created memories and had true love in our life together(Beauty). When they were taken from this life, God worked with me to bring out the beauty(healing) from this tradegy. Reminding me that it is Collateral Beauty.

Copyright © 2018 M.E. Masterson All Photographs Copyright © 2018 M.E. Masterson