I Will Remember You, Will You Remember Me?

Don’t let your life pass you by…Weep not for the memories…

I have been remiss; I missed posting a blog last Tuesday, and believe me I felt kind of awful about it. I didn’t forget, not at all, but as I mentioned I’ve been traveling and spending as much time with family as possible.

And, well, because of that I did not take time to write, at all. I was going to post just a photo, as in a trip photo, but I didn’t even open my laptop last weekend…or Monday…or not even Tuesday.

Instead each of those five days was jam-packed with family reunioning (my new word). And it was awesome! It was connecting and reconnecting with people who are family…relatives…bloodlines and chosen-lines…the ties that bind…us all together.

Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.
― Gail Lumet Buckley

Seeing family for three entire weeks has been a really great thing for me. Many of the people I got to spend time with had not seen me since I had a stroke, and I know many were curious (just as I would have been).

Every moment was a gift, just as all moments are gifts, especially the good ones; the happy, the triumphant, the appreciative ones. We less often think of the negative moments or events in our lives as gifts.

It’s much harder to see life as a gift when it is just so painful. When pain is everywhere around us, surrounding us, closing in on us. I just have to mention this today in light of the heartbreaking loss yesterday of, in my opinion, one of the all-time greatest people in show business…Robin Williams.

It pains me to write that, to acknowledge that this has really happened. Much as it is to accept the finality of it. He will live on in our memories as well as on television shows and films and other recorded works, photographs and his own written words.

Just knowing that his struggles could not be fought any longer really hurts me. You could say that he had everything, was beloved by millions, wealthy and connected, had family who loved him, and on and on. But he, like millions of others, had pain that dogged him for many, many years, maybe his entire life.

I hate knowing he’s not out there and I will miss the light he brought to the world. I try not to use the word hate lightly. I hate that he suffered so.

The hardest part of being able to relish the abundant gifts of time together with our families these last few weeks was the inevitable partings. Every coming together has one? Bummer.

But it does. The key is not to dwell on that looming in the distance, letting it overshadow the joy of being with loved ones again; after months, years and in some cases even decades.

“Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

It may sound easier than it is for good reason, but we pulled up our proverbial socks and exchanged heartfelt goodbyes…and they were bittersweet, but still sweet.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I’d like to say that I savored every possible moment of my time away…

I’d also like to thank every person that I was fortunate enough to come in contact with on my travels. The hospitality was amazing, mind you no less than ever. The chance to get caught up, and as I’ve already said, to connect is priceless. I’m so grateful. I needed this…

*And may I just add that I wish I could have had a chance to see everyone I know and love back home, as we say. I’m already looking forward to our next return trip.

Friendship is not a matter of distance, but a matter of heart. Family is not a matter of blood, but a matter of loving and loved.
― Unknown

One last thoughtful note today, I read that last night Robin Williams’ truly lovely daughter Zelda tweeted the following:

“You – you alone will have the stars as no one else has them…In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night…You – only you – will have stars that can laugh.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I love you. I miss you. I’ll try to keep looking up. Z

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

― Irish Blessing