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| Quebec, 2013 - remembered with gratitude for an opportunity seized with MK, JH, and KSW |
I got back from my India trip at the very end of September, and spent two of the
first three weekends of October on road trips. And work, though a much happier (virtual)
place for me to be these days, has also been pretty full-on over the past few
weeks. So after getting a major piece of work out the door this week, it has
been really nice to have a quiet weekend at home and do all my usual weekend
stuff: go to the farmer’s market, skype with relatives in the US, cook dinner
for a friend. It’s even been nice to do things like clean the bathrooms and get
the closets organized for the change of seasons.
Maybe
because underneath it all, there’s been a persistent awareness of how important
and fragile all these routine things are. They are what make life worth living,
and they can all be taken away with no warning. My work community and I lost a
longtime friend and colleague this week, barely three months after her second
cancer diagnosis in less than five years. She was only a couple of years older
than I am, and left behind a whole slew of people who were not ready to be
without her. She was laid to rest yesterday, halfway across the world, and the
only way I could be there was in spirit, thinking of her and all the other
people who loved her and trying to comprehend that I won't see her again.
We talk often about the Latin phrase “Carpe diem” – seize the day – because life
is fleeting and opportunities may not come again. My feeling this weekend instead
has been to cherish the day – hence the probably mangled Latin of the title – and to actively
value, as much as I can, the time with people and things that I love. I hope
that you all are getting the chance to do the same, and I wish peace and solace for anyone in grief.
In
memory of MK, with love
