January 2023 has been a very tough month for me and I am happy to say good riddance to it. I usually don’t have a bad attitude about months or things that I can do nothing about but honestly –January has been one of the most difficult months I have had in a very long time.
I guess it was all the death and sickness that seemed to be prevalent for our family this past month. Chris’s great uncle passed away, my mom’s best friend at Copeland Oaks passed away, my favorite high school teacher and choir director passed away and yesterday we found out that Chris’s great aunt had passed away that day. One of my good friends from Freeport had a stroke and is recovering in a rehabilitation place. But the hardest was going to a celebration of life on Monday for one of our good friends from when we lived in Mooresville – Jeff Richardson.
All of the other deaths were sad, of course, but each of those people were well into their 80’s and 90’s and they had all lived long and full lives. Jeff was only 67. A mere 5 years older than I am. When I got the news I was in shock. I have to admit I was in a fog all weekend and all I could think of was how his wife, my friend Melia, was doing. How on earth do you wake up the next day and not have your loved one next to you in bed? It is heart breaking.
The service was held at our former church and was a wonderful celebration of a wonderful man. The songs we sang together were songs that I have always wanted at my own service — It Is Well With my Soul and Great is Thy Faithfulness. To hear the entire overflowing church sing those two songs together was something I won’t soon forget. The family did such a wonderful job of planning the perfect service for a truly special man. I am so grateful we were able to be there.
Chris and I have talked so much the past few days about our future and what we want to do. I think the reality once you reach 60 years of age is you realize you have more runway behind you than in front of you. This is just made even clearer when a friend passes away suddenly and far too soon.
With that in mind — I am going to live each day to the fullest, hug those I can when I can, laugh loudly over funny cat videos, read all the books, do the things I want to do, spend as much time with Chris as I can on adventures and not apologize to anyone for living life.
I am so grateful for each of these people who were a part of my life who are no longer here physically and for their influence on me. What gifts each of them gave me with their examples over the years.
Yes, January was difficult. It’s a new month and one filled with possibilities and adventures. Let’s all make the most of every single moment.
