Since writing for me seems to be cathartic...I think I will try this blogging thing again. I might even try some pictures this time if I can figure out how...
Truth is...I write for myself. My thoughts flow better through my fingertips than my voice. I am totally a person who thinks of the witty comeback at about 3 a.m. following the conversation. But when I write...things come out...usually right and if they don't I have the power to edit.
Today I write in honor of death. Death scares me (I think I am not alone there). Recently, death has come closer to my bubble. My best friend lost her mom, Richard's best friend lost a sister and Richard also lost an aunt, and an aquaintance (another theatre mom) has learned that her battle, though bravely fought, is over.
Though I am fearful I also marvel at death. My friend's mother Rachel learned weeks before Christmas that she had a brain tumor. It seemed to come suddenly as this was a Grandma who never missed a performance of a grandchild (and as a result, came to many of my children's shows as well) She was a bonus grandma to my boys. They could count on her to lift them up. No matter how small their part she would load them with compliments and then share with me how wonderful it was to see them grow. No questions - all love. She passed away about a week after a Christmas filled with all of her loves. She was able to say her goodbyes in her own way and I have to wonder if she was just ready to go. Her work was done. I am glad that she hurts no more. I will miss her much. I see her in my friend Dody and her family. Dody is the Xbox 360 to her mom's Atari. She pays it forward. Rachel lives on.
Our friend Gil suddenly lost his sister Amy just 2 days ago. She leaves a young son. It was unexpected. There was no time to say goodbye or to make forward thinking plans. There was no time for conversations. I think this is harder. Perhaps easier for the person who dies. But harder for her family and her child. I did not know her. But I hope her family finds a way to take the good and bring it forward.
And last, though I do not know her well- only through Children's theatre. (We theatre moms share a bond I think (well I like to think so)). Laura. She has fought a long and hard battle - she has brought change to the state of Oregon - after your mammogram this year when they share your breast density, thank Laura. Her blog http://lauramasoncaldwell.blogspot.com/ Unfortunately Laura's battle with Cancer has ended. She shares her body with it now and her time grows short. She is making memories now with her children and her husband and hospice will support her as she needs it. She also blogs - beautifully. She, like Rachel, humbles me. She is brave. She is a mom. Being a mom doesn't stop. She has time to say her goodbyes and to leave things as prepared as she can. Her worries are for her children. As painful as this is for all - I have to wonder, is it a gift?
Charles Dickens wrote....though in my mind Kermit the Frog said, "Life is made up of meetings and partings. That is the way of it. I am sure that we shall never forget Tiny Tim, or this first parting that there was among us."
Life IS of meetings and partings. There is no avoiding it. In those meetings, people touch us, change us, empower us, even become a part of us - the last being the most powerful. If you come to your parting having become a part of another person - you are still with us. Rachel and Laura, I carry you with me. Thank you.
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