My friend said she was blue.
The days were short, the nights were long.
And it was cold.
She had no one to keep her warm.
Winter seemed to stretch before her like a long line of dingy laundry.
Oh.
Dear friend, I am so sorry if you are blue.
But if you must be blue
then this blue is for you.
This weekend choose happiness.
Love life, with love as an active verb.
Don't sweat the small stuff and don't pick fights.
Think happy thoughts and do fun things.
And sit in a patch of sun.
He was turning 12 and he was too cool for school. I don't want a Halloween party, Mom, he said. I want a Scary Party. No costumes, just scary.
Oh, I said. Okay, I said.
Well, his sister disagreed. And promptly became Cleopatra.
And she found a goblin
to do her bidding.
In baskets, there were shrouds.....
for wrapping mummies.
Of course, there were those who refused embalming.
Guests were forced to eat poison apples with their hands tied behind their backs.
The only antidote could be found in eyeball cupakes (ahem, real eyeballs, of course).
There was a tug of war with visiting ghouls...
Before dinner was cooked on the firey embers of hell.
And then a viewing of The Mummy in the Peacock Pavilions outdoor cinema. A bonfire was roaring and there was much toasting of marshmellows.
Guests were given handmade CDs with extra scary music as favors.
But the scariest part at this Scary Party was that the girls were wearing bras. (I'm in so much trouble, I can see it now!) Not to mention that the birthday boy was given fake cigarettes as a birthday gift (?!). What if....what if one day they're real?
A close friend of mine was just diagnosed with cancer. Oh.
It made me think of just how very fragile this life is. How anything could happen at any time. How bad things happen to good people.
It also made me wonder what we leave behind when it's all said and done. How people will remember us, the things they will say, the stories they will tell. About me, about you. When we're just a picture on the wall.
And I realize that I'm falling short of the person that I want to be. That I fail myself in many ways, day after day. A cutting remark, an impatient look, an unfulfilled promise.
It seems, this work in progress has raggedy edges.
I aspire to grace, I aspire to generosity, I aspire to kindness. I have my moments -- shiny and effortless. But then, I stumble and fall. I don't write the letter, I don't reach out the hand, I don't give up the grudge whose sense evaporated long, long ago.
And so I'm vowing to try harder to become the person that I want to be. The person worth remembering in big and small ways. And soon. Oh, soon. Before it's me to whom the doctor turns and says, I have bad news. And I'm confronted with the cold truth that a paper hospital gown is poor protection for what lies underneath.
