July 9, 2015
Today, a dear friend gave me a lovely, handmade journal she had made. I don't usually have a habit of writing, but today is the one year anniversary of the brain hemorrhage I experienced last summer while hiking alone in the Northern California Coastal Range.
Needless to say, this was a life changing moment and actually one that I treasure. It truly (literally and figuratively) gave me "pause". I paused because I could not go forward due to the excruciating pain in my head. So I paused, and lay down in a pile of leaves. Immediately, I was in awe of the beauty around me. When I finally did get up to walk the one half mile back to my friend's house, I paused with each step I took. Life became a pause, a focusing, and a step forward. I was experiencing a way of doing life: pause, focus, take a step.
This amazing experience gave me three gifts: the gift of profound gratitude, the gift of understanding death as the next journey, and most importantly, the gift of my lifetime partner Harold. He was there. He was there in every way. He was there for me.
Life gives us amazing gifts. This gift was eighteen hammers pounding in my head. I got the message, and I am eternally grateful. Thank you.
Today, a dear friend gave me a lovely, handmade journal she had made. I don't usually have a habit of writing, but today is the one year anniversary of the brain hemorrhage I experienced last summer while hiking alone in the Northern California Coastal Range.
Needless to say, this was a life changing moment and actually one that I treasure. It truly (literally and figuratively) gave me "pause". I paused because I could not go forward due to the excruciating pain in my head. So I paused, and lay down in a pile of leaves. Immediately, I was in awe of the beauty around me. When I finally did get up to walk the one half mile back to my friend's house, I paused with each step I took. Life became a pause, a focusing, and a step forward. I was experiencing a way of doing life: pause, focus, take a step.
This amazing experience gave me three gifts: the gift of profound gratitude, the gift of understanding death as the next journey, and most importantly, the gift of my lifetime partner Harold. He was there. He was there in every way. He was there for me.
Life gives us amazing gifts. This gift was eighteen hammers pounding in my head. I got the message, and I am eternally grateful. Thank you.