Hello all,
It is finally time for another post. I’m not holding back because I want to but rather because my time has been severely limited with the events over the past few months. When one hears that a family member and best friend have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer it tends to not only throw life in turmoil emotionally but also stretch one’s time quite thin as we all run around to do what we can, take care of things, and spend time with loved ones.
Now, lest you think I’ll be bemoaning the fact that this situation blows (and it truly does), it has given me much time to ponder (I won’t even tell you the multitude of things that I’ve thought about) and reflect upon life. It has also shown that while I always thought I had a great support group in family in friends, it has been proven true. I have no idea how I would be coping with all of this and other rough patches in life without these people.
Right now I sit on a plane. One of my best friends from CMU flew me out to Omaha to help clear my head. He sensed that I was getting pulled in many different directions, saw I was getting run down, and he wanted to make sure I was good both for myself and for my mother. It was more than just a trip away…it was a chance to think about things (“things” being life, my current life, what I want my life to be, my health, finances, and maybe a few hundred other things) on my own terms, to ride the bike through the country side, to vent, to dump my brain, to say nothing, and to simply decompress from it all. It’s nice to have those people in your corner that know what you need and how you need it. He’s been one of the good ones for many years now.
As I sat in various Omaha spots I had the opportunity to think about the others that were in the corner as some would peek in every now and then to check on me and my mother. It made me smile. It made me reach out to some friends again that had been checking in on me yet still haven’t had full updates.
Obviously my head still swims with thoughts, emotions, to-do lists, obligations, and anything else that can fill one’s head. I will say this…I am more than grateful for the people in my corner. Good family, good friends around town, good friends out of town…it’s something that keeps me going.
Who is in your corner? Who has been there through thick and thin? Have you told them that you appreciate their friendship and love recently? Life is precious…and so are the relationships that we build. Let’s keep them healthy, treat people right, and make sure that we continue to grow the number of people that are in our corner for when we need them.
(editor’s note – the post was published a week after being written. Funny how time gets away from one when they have all this going on)
