I had a different plan for what I was going to write this morning.

Yesterday morning (Christmas morning) we went on a walk with our dog to Wagon Hill.  It was cold but beautiful.  Whenever we walk there there we always see other people out with their dogs. Enjoying the walk. Enjoying the joy their dogs were having.  We saw this little black poodle just bouncing and pouncing. Having a great time. Cooper, our dog joined in the fun as we spoke with the poodles owner. The dog’s name was Shaina.  The owners name, Laurie.  Both so full of life.  We spoke as we walked together and as we got towards the end of the walk she reveled that she was recently given some bad medical news and given just a few years to live.  She was not sad, she was focused on positive things.  She was focused on making the most out if the time she had left. It really got me thinking- we all have expiration dates. Let’s make the most out of the time we have left. Let’s not leave things undone. Money unspent, people not knowing we love them.

All this got me thinking about my friends and family who are no longer with us. The pain will always be there. Is it odd to find comfort in the pain? It is how I remember them.

I went to see my niece in a play the other day. It breaks my heart to see her and her brother because they look SO much like their dad who passed away.

My friend Jeff  has had a tough go of things.  About year ago he lost his wife unexpectedly.  Shortly before that lost his mother. He hit a tough patch but has bounced back. When his mother passed he asked, “How do you continue on when the person who built your heart is gone?”  

There are no simple answers. Life is comedy and tragedy. The minute you are born you spend the rest of your time on earth either living or dying. I believe in the Butterfly Effect. Your parents gave you more than life. They taught you lessons. Your job was to continue and teach those around you.  As a parent there are three things that I wanted to teach my children. The “3 R’s” 

• Respect
• Reliability
• Resilience. 

We want our children to respect others and to be respected.

We want our children to be reliable. To be that person that others turn to and can count on.

We want our children to be resilient. To bounce back. I want my children to be a super ball. As children we remember the awe, how can this little ball store so much energy to bounce so high? 

That is what I want from my children and, my friends, that is what your parents would want from you.  Today, tomorrow, this month. BOUNCE. Bounce so high you touch the stars. Bounce so high others look at you in awe and wonder, “how can someone store so much energy they can go so high?”

That is the most important lesson. That lesson, I hope, will give you hope and hope to those around you.

I love you both and hope that you can bounce.

What is dying?
I am standing on the seashore.
A ship sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object and I stand watching her
Till at last she fades from the horizon,
And someone at my side says, “She is gone!” Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all;
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her,
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her;
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “She is gone”,
There are others who are watching her coming,
And other voices take up a glad shout,
“There she comes” – and that is dying.