Reflections from This Week

As we hunker down for the freeze tonight, I hope and pray the pipes survive. The cats have already begun snuggling...

We are still working on getting my stuff assessed for damages. There is a dehumidifier sucking the water from my stuff (as well as the walls and ceiling). Hopefully, the landlord has a plan to fix the damage to the house before mold begins to grow. This entire scenario has not been fun nor do I appreciate the lack of empathy and responsibility my landlord is showing. 

In other news, I attended a virtual Celebration of Life today. David was one of the silliest people I knew. He was one of those people who never met a stranger. Once he knew you, he was committed. His loved people, especially his daughter and grandson. They were the light of his life and he was so proud of them. He will be missed but never forgotten.

This got me thinking (again) about why do we wait for people to pass away to celebrate their life. I try to celebrate life every day. Maybe it is because I faced death at a very young age so I understood early that life is not fair and we are not promised anything. The last few years, I got a very loud reminder of that. The irony of being awarded my doctorate degree on the same day I received the official diagnosis of mesothelioma while celebrating 37 years since my last chemo treatment is not lost on me. I try to find the positive spin on a situation. I try to laugh a lot. I try not to let things out of my control bog me down. Don't get me wrong. I get plenty mad (as you know) and certainly have moments of sadness. But I try to keep them as moments, feel the feelings, and then move on. While watching FBI: Most Wanted (I do enjoy a good crime show), a character said, "Life brings a lot of noise and you have to focus on what really matters." I try very hard not to let the noises distract me from my goals, except of course when the noise you hear is a waterfall - pay attention to those noises. The other night I was sitting here and all of a sudden there were fireworks. Flapjack cozy up with me and we watched them. As a child, I hated fireworks. I found them very frightening because I was concerned they would shot off to the side, hit someone, and burn them. The other night, I really enjoyed watching the fireworks. They were so pretty and unexpected. 

I was watching This Is Us recently and Rebecca told Jack, "Until a day is over, there is always a chance you will remember it for something else." This struck me when she said it because a day can change in a blink of an eye. I think this goes hand in hand with the previous quote. There is always a change a bad day will turn around. When I reflect back on this week, I am so appreciative to my family and friends who were empathetic to my house situation. I am so thankful to have such a supportive network to catch me in these moments and help me dig out or should I say, bale out the water. Which reminds me of a poem I really like that says every friend (or relationship) is for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I think it is important that we celebrate people's lives when they are living so I challenge those of you reading my blog to tell someone(s) the kind things you think about them now before they pass. I hope to be remembered as a person who always let people know how I felt. I try to make sure people know how much I care about them and value their love for me.

I am going to close this post with an example of how the world laughs with us. My fortune in my cookie the other night said something like, "Your big situation will require many to help you." This week that certainly was true. Too bad there were no lottery numbers on that fortune. My phone also reminded me of this memory (I cannot believe the woman at the Humane Society told me he would not be a good fit and I shouldn't adopt him):

 

Can you find all three cats?

Thank you for being on this journey with me. While I would have preferred us all being on an amazing trip, this is the next best thing. 

For tonight . . . I'm just sayin' XOXO