Thursday, October 1, 2009

Time to get moving

My mom's sister finally lost her husband this week. He was a brilliant, talented man who was hit hard by Parkinson's and has been declining for years. I don't know half as much as I should about what he struggled with and am sure that comes from my pattern of wanting to deny the hardships in life. My aunt is one of the sweetest women I've had the pleasure to meet and I am so very glad I can call her family. She suffered greatly when she lost my mom but has the same enviable strength my mom did and she made herself available to my brother and I to fill the void left behind. The same strength has shown over the past year while I've visited with her (she lives just 25 or so minutes away from me) and she has relayed her experience watching the man she loves die for quite a long time. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult that must be but she managed to handle it so well.

I don't really know my dad and I don't really know my brother, but I can say with complete confidence that my extended family is unparalleled in their talent, kindness, perseverance and resilience. I hope I can make them think the same of me. I want to be accountable and I want to be great. To get there I will need to focus and be harder on myself and be accountable to ME first. One of the most truly amazing individuals I have ever met has tried to have me harness the power of positive thinking and I WILL do my best to do so moving forward. Good friends and good family await me this weekend. That seems a good place to start.

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