Now and again, one could detect in a childless woman of a certain age the various characteristics of all the children she had never issued. Her body was haunted by the ghost of souls who hadn't lived yet. Premature ghosts. Half-ghosts. X's without Y's. Y's without X's. They applied at her womb and were denied, but, meant for her and no one else, they wouldn't go away. Like tiny ectoplasmic gophers, they hunkered in her tear ducts. They shone through her sighs. Often to her chagrin, they would soften the voice she used in the marketplace. When she spilled wine, it was their playful antics that jostled the glass. They called out her name in the bath or when she passed real children in the street. The spirit babies were everywhere her companions, and everywhere they left her lonesome - yet they no more bore her resentment than a seed resents uneaten fruit. Like pet gnats, like phosphorescence, like sighs on a string, they would follow her into eternity. Tom Robbins
About This Quote

We all have those people around us that we can detect the presence of. They are out there and we feel them often as they ‘haunt’ our lives. However, what does this mean? Does it mean that we need to fear these people because they are so powerful and we should be concerned about their presence? No, not at all. Instead, we should understand this as a sign of our loved ones and the power they have over us.

We literally carry their spirits with us and without them, we would literally be alone. The “X's without Y's” represent those people who have gone before us that don’t let us down or leave our lives feeling empty. They are a part of who we are and they keep us young and vibrant.

Source: Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

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