Here we are, in the midst of winter, snow, and Covid. Just another day of living in New England…
My virtual assistant reminds me to do the newsletter, several potential new clients need a half-hour introduction session, I need to do my work-out routine, and the emails keep piling up. Just another day in the life of a very blessed woman.
I write all this in the aftermath of speaking with two friends, one a 20-year, one a 30-year friendship. All the stories, the laughter, the tears, and the transitions we have been through together never prepared us for watching while our 4th friend descends into the world of dementia. How? Why? What can we do to stop it? What can we do to bring her back? How can we bring back all the lobsters, the wine, the laughter, the sharing, the intimacy, the comfort that only comes with friends you have known for decades as kids grew, marriages ended, careers shifted, and so on.
Our heads know better but our hearts are breaking. These are the moments when prayer, meditation, and faith come into play. These are the moments when we each remember the day trips, the long weekends of getting away to “just be together.” The social action movements we were involved in, the “scandalous” changes we helped create in the church community, all the things that called us to become our best, albeit, most outrageous selves.
When you look back over your life, what will you see? What will you be most thankful for? What will you be most proud of that called you to step far out of your comfort zone? Into outrageousness? Into that place that called you to make this world a better place for so many others?
We did it all and three of us are still going. Far from perfect but perfectly human. All wanting to keep our “wild and adventurous” sides alive and kicking. The adventures change but the desire to make a difference doesn’t. The desire to make this world a better place for the less fortunate, those who are hurting, those less willing to take the risks we have run head-on into, hasn’t left.
I am filled with joy at all our adventures in social action, as well as in our “girls’ weekends” away. I am grateful that we truly have lived our lives. We have rolled our eyes at each other and we have lovingly laughed at each other. We have honestly loved each other for who we are, limitations, vulnerabilities, and strengths, for both our wild and our reticent sides, and will continue to do so.
Whatever my or your future holds, I pray we each live them, not survive them. I pray we each live this life with all the wonder, awe, and passion we possess. For however long we are here, we are blessed with life. Whether the end calls us to fade slowly or calls us to go out in a quiet sleep after a full and fantastic day, I pray we each leave knowing we have lived, we have loved, and we have done so with great laughter, great adventure, and of course, little to no inhibitions. The best way of all…
