Finally Friday Forum - Part 9

Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.
- Jessica Lange

A very happy Jessica Lange's birthday everyone!!!  I hope your week has been everything you wanted it to be.  It's been an emotional week for me.  Lots of not-so-good anniversaries and memories.  The week started off remembering the 5-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre.  Living in this area, we all know someone that was impacted by that horrible day.  My heart still hurts for those 32 students and their families.   Then to sit and reflect on the horrible bombing 17 years ago (that doesn't seem possible that it was that long ago) in Oklahoma that killed 168 people, 19 of which were children under the age of 6.  UGH!!!!  I still remember that day so vividly.  I think about that daycare on the first floor of that building every day when I drop my children off.  Such a nightmare.  This week also marks the 13-year anniversary of the Columbine shooting.  This one stung.  Up until that day, I always thought school was the safest place for children.  What an eye-opening tragedy. 

On a personal level, this weekend marks the 3-year anniversary of the death of a friend/co-worker of mine.  He left behind his wonderful wife and precious 6 year old daughter.   He was a man of great integrity and was making a difference in this world (he really was).   He had an infectious smile and a presence that could fill a room.  He IS missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.   I only wish he would have realized how much people truly loved him and what an impact he was making on us all.  Maybe things would have been different.  Three years later my heart is still heavy.   Rest in peace now my friend.

But nothing is more personal than the memory of my father.  I remember meeting my sister Pippa and my father at a local restaurant the night of April 20, 2004.  It was the meeting in which my father would tell us he was sick.   I remember him saying "I'm not dying today".  I remember exactly what he was wearing and how he looked.  My sister and I kept our composure in front of my father but we both broke down after we left him that night.  It was the start of a life altering lesson for me. 

Sorry for all the doom and gloom.  I guess you have to go through all this bad stuff to appreciate all the good stuff.  So I will keep on keeping on as they say.  I will hug harder and longer whenever I can, laugh as much as possible and just enjoy this precious gift we all have been given.  Count your blessings when you can and we'll start again next week.