It was one of those evenings.
Ants had gotten into the kitchen and were serving themselves dinner on the crumbs of food that the kids had left on the counter earlier in the day. I was filling out the school registration forms in triplicate and trying to figure out the best pay period to submit the check to cover the cost of the fees and still have enough money left over to cover the license plate fees. The kids were complaining that they had nothing to do. I sat there frustrated, because there was so much to do and I didn’t know which item to tackle first.
I went into the den to sit down and submit an article that was due and discovered that the computer wouldn’t turn on. I unplugged it, fiddled with all the wires and plugged it back in.
Nothing.
Out of frustration, I slammed my hand down on the on/off switch.
Nothing.
I unplugged every wire, grabbed the computer and headed over to Geek Squad. The technician plugged it in and it worked just fine over there. I came home and hooked it back up– it worked.
With a sigh, I signed into Twitter and decided to catch up with some conversations. I wasn’t ready to face the work that I needed to do. I came across this Tweet by Guy Kawasaki:
The link is to a slideshow of a mother and her son and a journey with cancer. Take a moment to experience it (it is captioned):
I sat there and I cried.
What I had been feeling tonight was little stuff; what this mother has gone through is huge.
And sadly, this brought back memories of Tod Morris, a friend who passed away from cancer very suddenly. You can read Tod’s story here: In Memory of Tod Morris.
So I’m taking a moment to feel that mother’s pain in losing her child and then I’m going to reach out and embrace my kids.
The little stuff can wait.
Comments
9 responses to “A Mother’s Journey, And a Final Goodbye”
Yeah– that made me cry. Whew. . .
Wow. This is an incredibly sad and powerful photos. : (
I sitting here in tears. What a moving journey! Your right the small stuff can wait.
Now off to hug and kiss Jenna.
Thanks Karen for bring me back to reality.
valeries last blog post..Valerie, You have a foreign body in your foot!
I’m going to be more patient – live more in the moment – with the kids.
With everyone.
I swear.
Genevieves last blog post..Autism Reads: From ‘Autism is Hell’ to political correctness
Karen, I have no words to describe how moved I was by those photos. I have walked that journey of losing a loved one to cancer and truly felt this mother’s pain. No mother should ever have to bury a child. My heart breaks for her. Yes, our struggles are so small in the face of something like this. Thank you for the reminder.
Karen Swims last blog post..Gone Fishing!
The most poignant slide show that I have ever seen. Such stories enable us to count our blessings. I am grateful to you for having enabled me to see this.
Ramana Rajgopauls last blog post..Hope For Peace!
wow.. I have a 10 year old.. who looks not unlike Derek..it could have been me. My heart breaks for a parent who loses a child.. in any way. I sobbed. What a story. My dad has lived 2 years since his diagnosis and we are so grateful. I want to show him this so he can see how lucky he truly is, but it will probably just depress him.
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I don’t normally leave comments, but your post really got me thinking! Thanks for this!
wow i cant even think… its nearly 1am here and im crying my eyes out. I cant even imagine how she feels. Its a shame how this kids with cancer suffer. Oh my heart aching for this family.