Life

Isn’t it amazing how each human being is different?  Our unique looks, voices, features, mannerisms and personalities make us distinct and sets each of us apart from the others. Our intelligence, emotions and feelings makes us superior to all the other species on the planet.  Which is why I cannot understand how a human being can kill another human being?

On June 2, 2012, there was a shooting in a crowded mall in Toronto’s Eaton Center.  Among the many shoppers was 24 year old Jessica Ghawi.  She later blogged about her experience that day. She wrote, “I was shown how fragile life was.  I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath”

About a month and a half later, on July 20, 2012 a mass shooting took place at a movie theatre in Colorado. A gunman walked into the theatre and shot into the audience killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Among those killed was Jessica Ghawi.

Sometimes, people whom you have never met can touch your life in unexpected ways.  While writing about the Toronto shooting, Jessica had written, “I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given”.   

Jessica lost her life to a senseless killing leaving behind her thoughts which had a deep effect on me.  They made me stop and take a good look within myself. I was forced to assess and reassess my priorities. What was important and what was not. Where I really had to try harder and hold on to. Where I had to move on and let go. How in spite of being busy I had to find the time for the ‘little things’ in life which are in reality not little at all.  Life is indeed fragile.   And in the end, how we choose to live it, is entirely upto us.

And so today, I did the one thing that I had not gotten around to doing this summer…..I took my kids to a movie.  Those moments spent at the movie with them today were indeed precious. And their excited smiling faces are the little big things that make up my life.

Signing off with a prayer for the families of all those who have lost their lives to senseless killings and this quote from Disney Pixar’s movie Brave which we watched today.

‘Some say fate is beyond our command, but I know better. Our destiny is within us. You just have to be brave enough to see it’

Cancer

Last week, some of my friends lost one of their friends to Cancer. I had never met her and yet somehow her loss felt personal to me.  She was young, had two school going children and had been battling Cancer for a while. My friends often told me how in spite of everything, her outlook towards life always remained positive and how she was an inspiration.  I pray that her family finds the strength to deal with her loss.

When you lose a loved one to Cancer, one of the most difficult things to deal with is the feeling of helplessness. Somehow, you end up with the feeling that there was nothing you could do to help the person who was suffering. Nothing you could do to make them stay.  I know that feeling of helplessness. It will be four years this week since my father in law passed away. One January, four years ago, we got the call informing us that my healthy and active father in law had been diagnosed with cancer. We were shocked and devastated at the news. There had been no symptoms and by the time he was diagnosed, it was too late. Many different treatment options were tried out. None of them worked and four months later, he was gone. Just like that. He never saw my daughter, his granddaughter who was born a month after he passed away. To me, he was my father. To my son, his four year old buddy and to my husband, he was a friend.  Four years later we still feel his absence. 

Yet, one thing that changed for me personally after my father-in-law passed away is the understanding and acceptance of the fact that life is unpredictable.  Things don’t always go as planned. You never know what awaits you at the next turn.  So, I try harder now. I try harder to take each day as it comes. I try harder to hold on tight to the people in my life whom I love and I try harder to always look at the positive side of things. Because life is just too short to be living it any other way.

This blog post is in honor of the two strong and inspiring individuals who lost their life to Cancer…my friends’ friend and my father in law. They may be gone but their memories will always stay.  And their positive attitude during their most difficult times will continue to inspire us.

Signing off on my first blog post of 2012 with a thank you to all my friends who inspire, encourage and motivate me and this quote by Anthony J. D'Angelo

‘Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.’