Ophelia
I hope all will be well. We must be patient, but I cannot choose but to weep to think they would lay him i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it. And so I think you for your good counsel. Come, my coach! Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night. [exit]
In this snippet from Hamlet, Ophelia is desperately trying to deal with the death of her father. Say what you want about Polonius, his intentions were good. He delved into what was wrong with Hamlet much better than Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He had a theory albeit hamstrung by his own experience and understanding (who isn't?). Did he deserve to die? Probably. He was meddler and spy, he jumped to wrong conclusions and screamed like a little girl when Gertrude thought herself to be under attack. But I digress.
Ophelia missed him terribly and couldn't make sense of the world without her friend and lover Hamlet, her brother's support or her father's advice and meddling. Somehow she knows that if she can hang on long enough, "all will be well". "Time heals all wounds."
But given enough time, isn't everything well? Is Rick from Casablanca completely wrong when he says, "If that plane leaves the ground, and your not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
Are we (humans) so short-sighted that we live in any situation that randomness puts us in?
But I know about regret. I look back over the earlier parts of my life, when I was floundering to "find myself" in the 70's and 80's, and I wonder how I could have wasted so much time. I was right in front of myself.
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