Life has this strange way of bringing emotions up close and personal in waves of highs and lows. You can feel the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in a matter of hours. In the matter of a three day weekend.
On Saturday I was sitting in an all day church council retreat when I got a message from my Dad with a link to a news article in the Chicago Tribune about the release of 5 prisoners in Iran. Why is that of interest to me? My dear friends Emily & Pete are very close friends with Washington Post reporter
Jason Rezaian. For over 500 days, he has been held capture in Iran in solitary confinement. I have hoped for the day of his release for the last year and a half and for peace to fill his family and his friends like Emily and Pete. I wanted to shout at the table to the others at the retreat the good news. I immediately texted Emily, big smile on my face and dreaming of a world filled with hope and the celebratory occasion. Oh how they have waited for this day.
Then on Sunday evening, I learned the devastating news that one of my most special friends from college had lost her sweet Dad. Heartbreaking and oh so sad. There are very few words. Lindsey was the apple of her Dad's eye. Behind his huge grin, you could just see and feel how proud he was of Lindsey and in his last years, Lindsey and her family. I recall many times at Gamma Phi Beta when you would go to answer the big wooden front door and there would stand Dennis with Lindsey's laundry and a big smile on his face. (He owned a cleaners.) How life can turn in an instant.
And today, MLK Day, means a day off work so it also meant a busy day working on
MGA Triple Crown stuff including meeting with our 2016 MGA Triple Crown Run Honoree and her mom. Our purpose in meeting with them was to ask if Makenna would take on this honor. Makenna, diagnosed in October with MG is 10. As I sat and talked with her and learned of her struggles, I couldn't help but feel some of my own heartache start to overwhelm me. I remember being 10, having my thymus gland taken out, battling the prednisone blues and trying to make friends all while dealing with a chronic illness. Oh there is so much I want to tell Makenna about the MG journey but I know she is a tough, strong little girl who will figure it out and tackle it like the best of them. Just a little side note on this tough little chick, within 20 minutes of leaving our meeting, she had confirmed a new sponsor. What a little rockstar!
Life isn't always fair. There are so many ups and downs. So many joyous moments and so many heartbreaking moments. The only way to live is to embrace them and try to make a difference with all you have been given. Carpe Diem!
