I can't type that I knew her. She was a tribe sister who briefly served as our membership director, during which I shared only one teleconference call with her. And, now, she's gone, just as quickly as she was here.
Then again, though, what is time? In joyful innocence, it is but a blink of the eye. In rancid fear, it can be a nightmare with no imminent end.
Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for a man who recently passed away after bravely living with stage 4 cancer for too many years. As a girl, he was my next door neighbor and his family served as a safe haven from the chaos of my home. For decades, he watched over his parent's mom & pop diner in downtown Vista. He was a beeloved community member, whose compassionate heart touched the edge-like spaces where most dare not tread. He wasn't "financially successful," like his other siblings, yet he was pure LOVE - a sweet haven for his daughters, wife, family and all those who fluttered to him like moths to a flame. And, now, he's gone, too.
All of this death has me contemplating life. More specifically, my own. Yesterday, as I sat watching the two teenage daughters of my one-time neighbor sing songs of time immemorial, I felt into an emptiness within. All that matters in this life is love, family, music, children, laughter, tears, joy, touch, and art. So, I sat there, feeling into my current choices and where they find me, now. Life's too short to not live my dreams and life's too long to settle with the fear that has kept me from my destiny for far too long. If I simply let go of my expectations to any perceived outcomes while not being detached to my efforts, then I'll sow, plant & cultivate the seeds, blossoms, and deep-rooted trees of LOVE & HAPPINESS in all facets and arenas of my life.
p/s/ Teal's mother made a Facebook request that we play Al's song as a reminder of her daughter's sweetness as Teal's body laid in between this here and now and the forever after in the hospital last week.
