Last month my little niece was admitted into the hospital for internal bleeding. Since she is just shy of 2 years old, it rattled the family from coast to coast to other side of the ocean. I waited anxiously for each e-mail and status update to see how little Ciara was doing.
Earlier this week, a teammate got notice that her mother has been diagnosed with cancer. The looming deliverable deadlines were tabled to make space for what was really important this week. There are a lot of unknowns right now. The one thing I know is that my team is ready and willing to be there for each other.
This morning I woke up to a crying sis. My little dog Willy has passed away. I got him when I was 10 from my Mom and we were pretty much inseparable until I moved out to Vancouver. (My sis kindly ‘adopted’ him upon our move out to BC since dogs weren’t allowed in dorm rooms.) Steph and I shared him for his full 16 years – road trips, camping adventures, vet visits, and ice cream cone sharing and all. And together, we will spread his ashes in Hawaii. He was really good to us, and everyone else he met.
The hospital has been a recurring theme over the past few weeks for me. Illness and death are present in my life right now. I’d prefer if they weren’t – like many other things that don’t serve me or the world – and they still are. They are here to teach me something.
Maybe it’s that family and friends really do provide a support like none other.
Or that our outlook on life directly affects the health and well-being of ourselves and those around us.
Or maybe it’s simply that life is short. And that that is simply the best reason to play, live, and love full out now. If we put off the things we really want to do, say, or be until “someday,” that day may never come. Today is our best option.
Pick of the Post: Kris Allen – The Vision of Love