Sunday, January 1, 2012

Life in 2012


A view of the Hudson River this summer at sunset
TD and I had a wonderful holiday season packed with many activities with family and friends. In the middle of it, my aunt Molly died. She had been sick for a long time but still it was a surprise to me when I received the news. I wrote about Molly here on the blog before, and we attended her birthday party. She was a larger-than-life figure in my childhood who was always taking us on adventures. Summertime was her strong suit and so she was often leading us to swimming pools, the beach at the lake or picnics in the park. She raised five children and she said to me once, "I loved children so. The 'terrible twos, the troublesome threes', I never experienced that. The children were like sponges and they absorbed everything up." TD and I drove up to her funeral service which was held on Friday in Rochester. At the end of the service, her son Peter, my cousin, delivered a great remembrance. He said, "What is the lesson of Molly's life? Have fun, play hard, spend time with your family, enjoy the present moment." Driving back from the funeral to New York City in the car we received an email from our friends April and Matt with the joyful news that their baby had just been born, and two beautiful pictures of little smiling Miles Perry. That made us so happy. Birth and death and everything in between – that is life. We embrace the happy and hope to avoid the sad though sometimes it must come. I am wishing you dear reader more happy this year. Have fun, play hard, enjoy the present moment.

4 comments:

Reggie Darling said...

I unexpectedly lost the darling husband of a dear first cousin of mine on the Wednesday before christmas, a sudden heart attack on treadmill, he was gone within 30 minutes. For reasons so mudane as to be unwritiable, we didn't/weren't able to go to the service. I wept when the Christmas card they sent as a family was waiting for me in my mail when I returned to the city yesterday, mailed when he was still alive. Life is so fleeting, and so easy to take for granted...

Ella said...

Thanks for a beautiful and thoughtful post.

hastings said...

Such a nice picture of you with your aunt from the June 16, 2010 posting.

hastings said...

"unknown" is me, hastings, bart dear