perspective

One of Greg's aunts passed away last week, after a long struggle with brain cancer. She had cancer as long as I knew her, and I didn't know her very well, but she was always very kind and sweet and welcoming to me, which I especially appreciated in the early years of my relationship with Greg while I was trying to find my place as a new member of his family.

It is a sad loss, and we're sad that we can't be with Greg's family, but it wasn't until I read this post by Greg's sister Karen that the whole things began to resonate with me. I've been slipping again recently -- slipping into laziness, slipping into bad temper, slipping into pettiness and resentfulness and pessimism. And reading Karen's post just made me stop and think about how lucky I am, how very fortunate I am to have my good health and a wonderful family and very little difficulty with anything, in general, and even though Lynn passed away, we are better off for having had her in our lives in the first place.

Yesterday we went to the beach, despite the storm warnings. I sat in the sand at the edge of the water, next to James digging in the sand, watching Greg and Evan play in shallow water as dark clouds inched their way nearer and nearer to us. I let the water wash over my feet and legs and I let the slimy green algae sift through my fingers and for a moment, I was hit with a sense of wonder at how lovely life can be when you just let go of the little things for a while. Sometimes I think I make my life much harder than it needs to be, and it's hard to remember to just slow down and enjoy the moment.

So thank you, Karen, for a much-needed reminder and change of perspective.