Touched With Stardust

We meet but briefly in life, if we touch each other with stardust – that is everything. ~Unknown . I wasn’t going to blog today. Remember? I am wandering a bit. But then I heard Squinternet Larnia designer of Donna Flora, Giulia, has not only lost her battle with cancer, she lost the war. No one could ever accuse her of not being a valiant warrior, she fought so long and so hard to win but deep inside another little chink has been placed in the armor of my soul because in my life, the score is now survivors one, non-survivors two. Though I did not know her in a real life sense, I can’t help but be re-awashed with the guilt and pain of being a survivor as yet another warrior loses their battle to this unrepentant, inexorable monster.

When someone I know passes away, it always brings my mind back to my beloved beach after a storm. There is peace there. Peaceful days, walking along the shoreline watching the pelicans circle and dive cleanly into the ocean searching for some unsuspecting fish swimming too near the surface. After the storm, the shore having been swept clean by swelling tides and wind, with the human detritus swept away; the ocean, like a giving mother, prods us with little reminders, small deposits of life lessons, for seashells are placed to be found by desultory walkers to remind us that every passing life leaves something beautiful behind. Giulia, like my beloved ocean, has done no less, she lived her Second Life as she did her first, giving us little life lessons, leading by example, loving and so giving to all.

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” Richard Bach

Cancer may have two victories to my one, but each time, I have learned something and resolved to fight harder. I learned its okay to fall apart for a little while. It is okay I cried while writing this, it’s healthy to shed tears, but also, the sooner I get them out of the way, the sooner I get back up, dust off my big girl knickers, smile, and fight on. More importantly though, I was reminded, life is fragile, sudden, and so much shorter than it often seems. There may not be a tomorrow, not for everyone. Right now, someone on Earth is planning something for tomorrow without realizing they’re going to die today. This is sad but true. So spend your time wisely today and (always!) pause long enough to savor the sheer joy of being alive.

Take from? Yes, especially today. Every moment you get is a gift. It is, afterall, the present. Don’t waste time by dwelling on unhappy things. Spend each day on things that move you in the direction you want to go. Everything that happens to you, to me, is a life lesson. Everyone you meet, everything you encounter. They’re all part of the learning experience we call life. Our story. Our legacy to those we leave behind when we go. Never forget to acknowledge the lesson, acknowedge the good but especially own up to when things don’t go your way. Because the bad? Those are the lessons that meld you into the uniquely beautiful person you will become. An unknown person once wrote, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” I’ve a big feeling Giulia, free of pain and the daily battles with the ravages of cancer, is somewhere spreading stardust and dancing in the rain right now. Life is good.