Common Ground

I may have written about a friend who lost his wife very suddenly and very tragically about ten months ago. He and the boys came over for supper the other night, his three year old daughter was being babysat. I watched this man who had married his high school sweetheart, been married to his best friend for over seventeen years, I listened to this man tell me the story of sitting down his four children to explain that their mother wouldn’t be coming home. The hardest thing he’s ever done in his life is how he described it to me. This is a man who sacrificed his sports when the twins were born, this is a man who has taken all the necessary steps to ensure he and his kids are taken care of, from mental wellness to boundaries, rules, routines…I will never cease to be impressed by the triumph of the human spirit and continually perplexed by the complexity of the unexplainable circumstances endured.

What surprised me perhaps the most was that he shared with me that he has never cried. The family's grief counsellor even broke down in tears over hearing the events, had to leave the room, collect herself and returned with sincere apologizes over her lack of professionalism. I like to think that grieving is an individual process unique to each and everyone of us, but like most of my thoughts, I tend to believe it's idealistic. I have been taught that healing comes in loads of tears and heaps of snot. I personally, in order to let go have allowed myself to feel depths of pain that has brought me to my knees in puddles of tears and gobs of snot.

I don't have any answers. We all walk a very personal and individual path in life, one that hopefully holds fifteen laughs for every ounce of pain, sadness, lonliness or tear. I would be interested to know how other people grieve and ultimately celebrate life (as another of my good buddies in California taught me. Although he probably would feel uncomfortable to take credit for teaching me anything and would only accept that he 'reminded' me).

Off to enjoy the day,
Me

AHA ha-ha...hahahah......hm.

If having an epiphany moment is like someone turning on the lights, then who turned them off?

I've been meeting a lot of people and recently did a travel day with a rep from Montreal. When touring the city with many strangers, good conversation is a real bonus. She was discussing the exact moment when she came to be able to see herself as though others viewed her. Not only did I find this facinating, her ability to visualize her "happy place" had me envious when she was able to go into such great detail about it. Geez, my happy place had always been where my butt was parked.

It's a gift to have the opportunity to meet, share and learn with others.

If heading into a dark tunnel makes someone run back to the light, won't they miss the adventure of getting through to the other side?

Built Tough

For my friends that are the mechanics of minds, this is from the Owner's Manual.

Who's My Daddy?

From time to time girls need to do what girls need to do. Last night it was getting together with one of my favourite men on the whole planet and watching the game. Unfortunately we lost in over time, but I passed out before I could see the final slaying. I've never watched a game in HD till now, he has a brand new 40" SONY HD TV. It's only 4" deep!

This morning after shaking away the blur of last night's loss, it rejuivinated myself in the country, then home to ride my bike. The trails were incredibly dry and populated. My thoughts were random and odd to say the least.

I think my belly button is too pretty not to decorate it....Ohhhhh Canadaaaa.....