Life is like that: busy times and not so busy times. A time to work hard and get things done, and then a time to contemplate and just be. Of course, just being is less physically exhausting, for me....
I have had a couple of hectic days off, and now I'm heading into a weekend of work. I spent today at work learning the coding program. Sort of. We'll see.....tomorrow, when I try to do what I did today. ICD-9 codes drive Medicare reimbursement. It would be nice if I could get them right.
As important as that may be, more important things have happened in my personal life. Seemingly disparate things have converged into one simple truth: life is precious. Every minute of it.
I celebrated the anniversary of my mother's birth by spending the afternoon and evening with my granddaughter, on Wednesday. We spent quality time together, enjoying each others company as we often do.
It was a compromise for my daughter, allowing my granddaughter to go out to dinner on a school night. We had to promise to have her home by bedtime. And we couldn't pick her up until her homework was finished. She did, and we did, and it was a lovely afternoon and evening together.
Yesterday was another day off. I found a treasure trove of items, and I was sorting pictures. The newest ones were nearly thirty years old. Many others were more than fifty to one hundred years old. Old prints, sepia-toned, fading with time and exposure. I have purchased boxes to store them in safely.
Many were curled up, unwilling to lie flat, even with coaxing. I have put many of them in my thick, old Webster's Unabridged Dictionary to flatten them out. Books piled on top are adding more weight to the process.
Tonight, after supper, I was watching one of many specials on television about 9/11. The one I watched was produced last year. It was hard to watch. Yet, as I did, I thought about all those old photographs, and the silly new ones I took of Noelle the day before yesterday, and I was struck by their importance.
Here, in fading sepia tones, are those people who populated our world a hundred years ago. People with hopes and dreams. People who lived and died in a time and place far away. People who are related to me or to those I love. People who have finished their journey on this planet.
And I thought about Noelle. And all the rest of my children and grandchildren. Some whose own journeys are barely begun, and others who have gone some distance already. I thought about how important it is to share those sepia-toned pictures with them, so they know their own stories.
And finally, I thought about myself. And my place in their lives. Both the younger ones, and the older ones who are gone. Watching people on television talk about the loved ones they lost on 9/11, and feeling their sorrow, helped me realize that today is important.
Connections are important. Thinking about how much I love my family is not enough. I have to reach out and connect. Say those words that need to be said. Let them know how important they are to me. Sharing our lives on a daily basis, not just once in awhile, when it's convenient.
As we remember those who died on 9/11, and offer prayers of condolence for those left behind, let us also be thankful for those we love, and those who love us in return. For the sake of those who have died, and those who are still with us, and dear to us, let us find peace.
Someday, I want Noelle to be able to sort all my old photographs.....and think lovingly of me.
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