Experiments in Life

The past couple of weeks have been very busy and rushed for me. It seems like time has really flown by. I didn’t quite realize how quickly or how much had gone by until a conversation I had with my husband on the way to work.

Jonathan: “Do you know what happens in 19 days?”
Me: Hmmm, what could it be. “Is it the vacation we are planning?”
Jonathan: “It’s 19 days until your birthday, you know your 27th birthday.”
Me: “Oh”

Turns out I had forgotten something. I can’t believe that I had already forgotten about my own birthday. What could be so important that I had lost so much time and forgotten so much?

That realization is partially responsible for my somewhat reflective mood at the moment. What else has occurred to jerk me back to reality and reminded me “to smell the roses” you ask? Well, it is something a dear friend of mine is going through at the moment. Her post on Limbo has made me pause for a moment.

Travel with me, if you will. While I have not experienced the exact situation my friend is in, I have experienced something similar. The day I heard the news is still a little fuzzy to me. I don’t remember a whole lot, other than waiting for what seemed like forever. In reality, I believe it was only a couple of hours. I got a phone call from my dad saying that my aunt had taken a turn for the worst. I knew she had been in the hopital for heart and blood issues, but she had just been taken out of the critical care unit and placed in a private room. She was doing better. He said he would call back and let me know what was going on. Well, I waited and I waited. Finally, I called him back. And there it was, the waiting was over. She was braindead….She was my only aunt…. It was right before Christmas….I did not get to say good-bye.

It took all I had to finish my conversation with my dad before breaking down. I think Jon was on the phone with someone at the exact time I finished my phone call and started sobbing. He must have heard because he was right there holding me before I could even take a breath. It was horrible. How could this happen? She was so full of life and had so much left to give.

I think a part of me has still been in denial about it, even though it’s been awhile. I’m not sure I’ve truly accepted her death. We didn’t see her very much growing up. Once my grandmother moved to town, we saw her a little more. Even though we didn’t see her often, her passing really hurt.

At least my friend was able to say good-bye, I envy her that.

So, where am I going with this post? I’m not really sure. All I know is that a good friend of mine is going through a hard time, and I’ve had a similar experience. Is it really like what she is going through? Maybe not. But I’d like to think that sharing my story has helped her in some way, or someone else for that matter. Maybe by posting this, I’ll have caused someone else to slow down and see the little things in life.

In loving memory: Aunt Freddie
I miss you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 6th, 2006 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.