So this post might be a little sad, a little glad, but hopefully, encouraging. Tomorrow will be my baby sister's 36th birthday. Unfortunately, she didn't live to see her 12th birthday. She was hit by a car and tragically taken from our family in 1987. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think about her in some way or another...whether it be a song on the radio, a photograph, a little girl with her mom, or big sister, a butterfly, a kitten, or even a pair of pink shoes...always reminders of her. She was such a little brat though, sometimes...always mama's little angel and never did anything wrong. I remember sometimes feeling a little jealous of the attention she got and now I regret ever having those feelings and wishing I could reverse the world. After she died, my life changed forever. I think I've become the person I am because of that tragic day. I try to never go to bed mad, never hold grudges, always be happy and certainly, never be jealous of anything, ever again. I embrace every moment of life and try to live it to the fullest. So here I'm sharing a photo of my baby sister with Broc [my son]...they were best of buddies and she loved him dearly:
Earlier this week a longtime friend of mine died in a fire. She was only 57 years old. She was one of my "pokeno girls"...a group of us played pokeno on the 2nd Wednesday of every month for over 20 years. Those girls are all like sisters to me...we watched each others lives change with children being born, graduations, weddings, divorces, financial problems, job changes, etc. In a way, we were like a support group for each other all of those years. Sometimes we didn't even play pokeno, but just sat around talking, eating and discussing current events. I think that group kept us sane all of those years. It was like "AA" meetings, without the "AA". Earlier this week I talked on the phone for over 2 hours to one of my other pokeno girls and we laughed and cried and reminisced and wished we could reverse the world.
My friend indicated how much she would love to be able to quit working and just be an artist and do her art. I certainly hope she is able to do that one day...and one day soon. Life is just to short to keep thinking..."one day". I know I'm rehashing the same ole same ole, but it's true. You just have to take the goat by the horns and do what you want to do in this life. You only get one shot at it, because when you come back as a butterfly, as beautiful as that may be, you won't be able to paint a picture, or hug a child, or tell someone how much you love them. You need to do that today, while you still can.
So if I made you sad, I'm sorry. If I made you happy, I'm glad. If I made you think twice about life, I'm ecstatic. Seize the day and always live life to the fullest. It's a privilege denied to many.
xo ~ Kathy
"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one." ~ John Lennon
