Just after I got up this morning and was making coffee, my phone rang. It was my friend Ann calling to let me know our friend Ginny died this morning. I probably suffered more grief 4 months ago when her metastatic pancreatic cancer was diagnosed, but, still, it was hard to hear.
I went to the computer, and was greeted by an absolutely wonderful email from Will. His optimism was the perfect antidote to the sadness and loss I felt.
Then, while at work, I had a call from Chris, the husband of my 30 year old friend, Alison. When I got home, I returned his call. Inexplicably, this beautiful, healthy young woman is in the ICU on a respirator, having had multiple strokes. Just last weekend, I wrote a letter of recommendation for her for a masters program at KU, telling their admissions staff how incredibly bright she was, and bragging on her suburb communication skills. I still can't believe this news.
I then opened a letter from a friend who has known me since I was a baby. Glyna sent me good wishes on our move, and enclosed a story she wrote about her son, Neal, and I when we were toddlers. The story was about the our mothers' plan to let us have a tea party in the afternoons with pink popsicles if we ate our lunches and took our naps. Even with such a prized reward in the offing, it sounds like Neal did some pretty interesting negotiating along the way. What a lovely thing to share, 50 plus years later.
Life! The love we have for others causes so much pain and brings so much joy. Today was a good reminder to cherish each person we love every single day.
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