photo by http://mybakingheart.com/
Are you a person who "feels hard?" In situations where someone else might say, "Oh that's so sad!" you are moved to tears? I have always been one of those, and a couple of my kids are too. We're sensitive...perhaps to a fault, because socially, it's not ok to just burst out crying when you see a dog get hit by a car or hear of someone else's tragic misfortune.
I must say, Prozac has helped me with this. I'm not depressed; I love my life. But I really have to be careful and filter out a lot of the "bad", because it can get almost paralyzing. As I flipped through twitter this morning, I kept seeing #apieformikey on a lot of tweets. so I investigated a bit. Within minutes I had the story.
Jennie, a successful food blogger, married and mother of two adorable girls, suddenly lost her husband Mike to a heart attack this past Sunday. I don't know her, but they look to be late 30s-40-ish. I think the girls are 4 and 8. There was no warning. Looking through her stream, I saw she had tweeted Sunday that she had 13 days to get ready for a family vacation, then the next tweet was how she couldn't believe he was gone.
Until today I had not followed Jennie. Didn't even know about her. But her story set me back this morning. Especially the quick video of dad and daughter that she at some point had taken a moment to record on her phone. Take a look. How treasured has that suddenly become?
To help Jennie and her girl's through their grief hundreds of people are following her wish: “make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love… then hug them like there’s no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on."
On my surprise day off (thanks, boss), I am deeply saddened, perhaps more than most. But I am also reminded how important today is and how we all need to let those we love know just how much we love them.
Blessings to you, Jennie.
2 comments:
TJ said...
I'm not a big crier, however I do find that I'm deeply troubled by things that others brush off. Reading about the mothers in Somalia broke my heart. I know that no child here in the US should starve to death, because we have food banks, churches, and a welfare system to help. But they have none of that in Somalia, and women are forced to choose what child to feed, what child will live. And I can hardly bear the thought that while we live in extravagance, they are dying with nothing.
christina said...
I want so much for my children to know how lucky they are. They've never been hungry, never wondered where they would sleep on a cold night...
It is something that all children should have. A basic security. Of course it gets shattered sometimes, and that is a tragedy, but when there are entire countries lacking such basic, human needs...
We are so blessed, even when things don't go the way we want. Thanks for stopping in and commenting <3