Be a participant, not just an observer

Plans are in the works for a laser tag competition with my bookstore co-workers after finals! None of us have EVER gone (because we were book-kids).

Steve and I went out to the memorial for our friends’ mom earlier today. I’d been anxious about it in part because I haven’t seen much of the family since I moved out of my old neighborhood a year ago, along with a lot of people from that part of my life. So I felt like a jerk for not being in touch with these kids while I knew their mother was ill, but I also was uncomfortable confronting a past life (and all the trappings) that I shed—less than gracefully at the time.

None of this turned out to be much to worry about. What was hard was what is always hard about loss: knowing a particular, especially wonderful, person is gone from the world, and knowing that people are hurting from it.

The memorial was beautiful—she would’ve loved it—and the family seems to be processing things well, stepping into place to fill in the gaps left by her absence as much as they are able. She was ready, and she made sure her loved ones had what they needed to let go.

There’s a local family that has been involved in our town’s arts and music scene since long before I became aware of it. I’ve been friends with two of their children since I’ve been out of high school and lived with one of the daughters for about two years. I moved about a year ago and haven’t been in close contact since. In the meantime, their otherwise healthy mother, head of the household, family business, and community cheerleader, developed a rare illness that affects the body’s processing of proteins. She passed away recently, and I’m not certain how to approach her children.

... during this morning’s training on delivering presentations. A visiting acting/speech coach was leading the training, and I stood up and gave a brief, entirely unscripted description of my research. BREATHE!!!

Went out with new friends last night to celebrate a co-worker’s birthday. Had a few drinks, danced, got silly—had fun. My only regret is not drinking more water before going to sleep. :P