Scattered thoughts...

Scattered thoughts about celebrating my life and about how delecate life is…

Every day is my birthday…

I celebrated my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I’m still receiving Happy Birthday wishes… and I love it. I received a late birthday card in the mail from my great-aunt, a late phone call from an old friend, and an “Oh crap! I forgot it was your birthday!” from yet another friend. My response to all of them is that I feel like every day is my birthday.

I receive so many amazing gifts from family and friends every day… so much so that I feel like everyday of the year is my birthday.

Life is fragile…

I read an article written by Peggy Noonan… I think it was about Ken Lay’s death (which isn’t why I write that life is fragile, per se). At any rate, in the article, she speaks about how we hurt other people and how fragile – how breakable people are. She discusses how it’s difficult to calibrate how much damage you will do to a person when you hurt them. We cannot know the extent of the hurt.

It also brings to mind something people tell kids to say when they’re being teased… “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…” F that! Words can hurt far more than sticks and stones. The sad part is we will never know the extent of the hurt. At least if someone smacks you across the head with big stick, you know the extent of the hurt. I am worried that I may have hurt someone… and I can’t stop thinking about it, cause I’ll never know the extent of the hurt.

Life is fragile, not just because people are breakable, but because life can end so very quickly. A distant friend of mine suffered the tragic loss of her 4 year old son this weekend. It’s a tragedy so terrible, I don’t know that I could bear it. I pray that God comforts their family… and that Our Lady be near to my friend. http://www.joshuaschmiedicke.com/