She lay on the grass, a vibrant, vivid green only seen in a northwestern American spring. The green that glows in the late day sun. Her skin is ivory, glowing translucently, lit from within. Her face flawless and at peace. Her golden hair flows free like strands of silk in the wind. A light rises behind her, revealing the perfection in her exsistence.
I awake. The light of a new day attempts to creep into my room through the slates of the shades on my window invading my day, trying to steal this scene of peace and serenity. But her vision is not one that will leave. It stays with me, and comforts me.
She is not a lover, nor a mate, nor a sister. She is, she was, a friend. She is young and but now she has left her earthly home.
She was a mother and a wife. She fought ferociously to live. The same way she fought to protect her young children in a time when innocence is tossed aside too easily. She loved life and was quick to laugh, the first to make fun of herself, tossing her head to the side as she laughed about her own foibles. She was educated but made the decision to stay home until her children were older and then took a job at the local elementary, a job that benefitted many, and where she was loved by even more. From across the street, her life seemed so easy and carefree, an exsistence I childishly envied.
Two weeks after they found the cancer, she was laid to rest. Hundreds came to bid her good-bye.
In retrospect, maybe life lovingly allowed her to truly enjoy the short time she had with her family, because fate and destiny knew that she would not stay here that long. If it could always be so kind to all.
So why do I write about this? The vision of my neighbor and my friend that woke me one Saturday morning, the vision I wanted to erase, but was so beautiful I will never forget, the vision that brought tranquility out of the tragedy unfolding across the street but yet reminded me how strong the forces of life, and death, can be. Why? Because, I will take something positive from it.
From this, I will take an appreciation for every moment, for every hour and for every day that I continue my existence.
This a very personal diary, a tribute to a friend, my simple way of honoring her life, a woman I knew much about, and nothing about. A remembrance of a woman who embodied the desire to find good in everyone. She was there when you needed her, she always had something kind and positive to say. She lived every day and appreciated everyday. She saw the positive and played off it, she minimized the negative. I wish the proverbial "we" could wake up and appreciate what we have. I wish "we" could appreciate the day.
Can we not embrace those things that we share and have in common, maximize all the things that bring us together and minimize those things that tear us apart. Can we not finally, at long last, bring our country together. We will never know when our last day will be.
This fall, may our harvest be bountiful.
Carpe diem.