May all your dreams be big and may all your dreams come true.
The strangest thing happened to me yesterday when I was walking down my drive to pick a fig from the tree next to my car. Totally unexpected.
I saw one of my neighbors just standing in a sort of thoughtful way. She’s usally really cheerful and supportive, asks about my work. Sweet lady.
I casually asked how her vacation was and she said it was horrible. I love a horrible vacation story but she told me one I never expected to hear. She told me that the vacation was cut short on the third day after dinner because her husband’s brother died.
I said, Say what?
My smile turned serious real fast and I thought Oh my Gosh, I’m so sorry. What?
I meean, Were you vacationing with an older couple?
No, she said.
We went to dinner, we said goodbye, then, my brother in law said, ‘See you tomorrow at the beach’, then he and his wife left to the hotel and a couple hours later, died.
It was around midnight when my neighbor got the call.
Medically speaking it was a heart attack. Her brother in law was 40. I perhaps have seen him at bbqs. He’s just a stranger but from one moment to a next this whole family’s life has been altered in a drastic way.
That’s when the real conversation took place. The words of sympathy. The words of trying to understand life and death. The words of how to handle a tragedy. She had to logistically think on her feet. Her vacation turned into a funeral.
So sad. So I ask you if you are reading this here and now to please just close your eyes and send a little love to the poor woman who came home from her vacation a widow. She’s going to need the positive thoughts and I believe in the positive thoughts of prayer.
So what did she say she learned? She said, You know Julie, it really made me think. She said, you know all of those petty things we worry about, the silly things we argue about? She said, let them go.
Just let them go becuase this just might be your last day.
Well, sorry to have brought you a sad story today. I do believe there’s a lesson in every story. I know you didn’t expect it. Nor did I.
As always, I hope this post finds you lucky, in love.
I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I’m painting flowers in my garden and sharing it with you now.
Painting flowers in my garden.
A very sad story but we do need reminding sometimes that we should live every day as if it is our last.
That is very sad, and what she said about making the best of each day because you never know whats next is so true. I always try and let the small stuff go, but it is’nt always easy
Thank you for sharing, Julie… what a great reminder of how we should be looking at our lives. In the end the only thing that matters is love… but it is easy to forget that with day-to-day “stuff” that creeps up on us.
This post is sad & profound & beautiful all at the same time. It makes my heart ache in a way that I just want to grab my cell phone and send an “I love you!” text to everyone. Thank you for writing this, Julie. <3
Thanks Jay Jay, I appreciate you saying thank you for writing this as I had a doubt as if it were the right thing to do. I thought perhaps it was private. But then I thought well, acceptance of death is paramount in living life fully so I went with it.
x
Julie
Thank you LLM,
It is a sad story. I so agree with you. I’m trying to live every single day as if it were my first! I wish I could concentrate on living in the moment and not the past or future. Thank you for your constant support.
Julie
Yes, you are so right! I just got back from a family vacation and I thought how lucky I am! I mean, I’m really starting to get it. It’s the little things you know? It’s the smell of the soap. It’s the glance from a stranger. It’s all that. It’s a sweet comment by a stranger who encourages you to write.
Julie
Janie, we are just going to both shred the stuff, right? Keep calm, carry on and off we go. Wishing you so much success with your new blog and in inviation to my readers to visit Jane who just took a huge leap of faith by starting a blog.
Julie