many of you received an e-mail from me talking about take care of the moments and never putting off telling someone you know that you care, or missing a lunch date because of something ... probably not as important as the person who's lunch date you missed because they would understand.... and they would but then the make up date never comes.
Well that fact came to greet me first hand when my dear friend didn't show up for our lunch date on April 5th it was a make up date going all the way back to February first I cancelled and then she cancelled and finally we were going to lunch ... but she didn't make it. My dear friend Jane had been
killed the night before in a motorcycle accident.
I met Jane just a few years ago but she seemed to just meld right into my family always celebrating with us and always making me smile. I can remember her coming to the annual Hanukkah bash "just for the food" she would say. And her girls nights that she always did on a Friday night so I was never able to make it ... and then the one time she did it on Saturday just for me Barry and I were out of town. Jane, Ian and Emmet were always welcome guest at our table and the boys always had impeccable manners she raised them so well. And they were her pride and joy.
Jane grabbed life and enjoyed every moment and took me and everyone she was with along for the ride.
Her e-mails always ended with Love U Lots ~ Miss U More and it will always be so true. Jane I will always Miss you and never forget you!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain” And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches... We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? ;And why are you waiting? Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you. Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over. It's National Friendship and FAMILY WEEK Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends. To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do. "Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
So it's 6;30 in the morning and the phone rings that alone is enough to make you uneasy... then you realize that the call is from Israel after I had already talked to Sam and told her Good Shabbos... oh no what can it be.....
when you reheat the soup.
when you reheat the soup.
