Every day is immediate.

I like to greet the morning with gratitude. I intentionally focus on my body celebrating that I can move, see, feel, think, hear and care. I am aware it didn’t have to be this way and I remember there was a season when it wasn’t.

Then as I tune into messages from the world, I long for a day without war, a time where empathy is an effective weapon against hate and when all human life is considered worthy. Apparently not yet. Sometimes my sense of powerlessness to make things better feels like grief.

It was like that Sunday. I heard my goddaughter sobbing into the phone. Her mother, my best friend forever, was in the emergency room.  Stroke symptoms were the trigger. I had to sound strong. I had to be strong. I had to dig deep to support her  through. I found words somewhere that stopped the flow of tears. I sat up waiting for her next text message or phone call.

In the still of the night, the echoes of my mind played back the years Em, her mother, and I had shared. Practicing our sister-love had been more important than professing it. We laughed, we danced, we shared and sometimes we just survived.  We were able to let our most vulnerable selves be seen and known to each other. We knew each other’s journey, hopes, dreams and challenges. We did not judge one another.  Em would crawl into my sadness and confusion and fight along with me to gain new perspective and strength.  When necessary she let me sit until I was ready to walk, then she walked with me. Em was grace activated. I did not know how to imagine life without her. So I didn’t. Instead, I prayed.

I talked to Em this morning. I will see her Friday. We will attend her granddaughter’s high school graduation. It will be a joyous family affair. We will all be intentionally grateful and we will understand, to a much deeper level, that every day is immediate.

Blessings.

    Until next time, remember,

• You are not alone.

• You are not your circumstances.

• You have everything within you to live a purpose-filled life.