Thursday, oh Thursday. You often delight me, being Friday Eve and all, but today you have already thrown some challenges in my face.
The weather outside is just nasty. We go the entire winter with hardly any winter weather and now, on the first day of March, the skies open: rain, sleet, occasional snow, and blow-you-over wind gusts have set up shop and are supposedly sticking around for the rest of the day. Honestly? I'd take the snow over the rain when it's this cold outside. Snow can brush away, swirl around you... rain just soaks. Anything and everything.
This delightful weather led to a challenging walk to my office this morning. A delivery truck pulled too far past the stop line at an intersection so the cross walk sign was completely blocked, so instead of walking my usual way, I headed face-first into the wind... and immediately became the person with the inside-out umbrella whom I'm always giggling at on The Weather Channel. The wind was blowing SO hard, I could hardly walk, my hood kept blowing off... it was rough. When I'd finally made it to my office and into the bathroom, I felt like I could just burst into tears. This was awful, just AWFUL (cue the Scarlett O'Hara dramatics). My hair had been just perfect, my eyes were perfectly shaded, my cheeks perfectly bronzed and now the stupid weather has just WRECKED it all.
Then I sat down my lunch bag full of healthy food for my breakfast/lunch/snacks today, and my fancy bag holding my Kindle and my iPhone, my wallet with my debit cards and spending cash, my traveling pharmacy with cold medicine, vitamins, and a prescription I had filled yesterday. I peeled off my warm and cozy down coat, my winter scarf and stepped out of my thick, protective winter snow boots that I bought for days just like this. As I looked in the mirror and primped to fix my hair and makeup, it hit me how awful I sounded (to myself, thank goodness nobody else heard the rants).
Sure, it stunk having to walk in the rain and get a little wet... but I was on my way to a good job with a wonderful company where I have great benefits and health insurance and a wonderful work environment. Yes, my hair poofed a little and I had a smudge of mascara on my cheek, but I had gloves to keep my hands warm, a heavy coat to protect me from the wind, waterproof boots to cover my feet. My lunch bag was heavy in my hand as I struggled to wrangle my umbrella and keep my hood over my head, but it was heavy due to being full of fruits and vegetables and splurges like Greek yogurt and canned seltzer water. This little moment, standing in a bathroom, staring into a mirror at my spoiled self, is what I like to call a learning moment.
I have so much. I am blessed with so much and it took a cold, rainy day to open my eyes and see that rather than harping on the little negatives that were a part of my morning, I should acknowledge how lucky I truly am at the end of the day.
Especially on THIS day.
Three years ago today, a wonderful, kind, talented, intelligent, beautiful, amazing young lady lost her life in a very tragic way. She was out celebrating with her friends after she and several others received the news that they had passed the CPA exam. While walking home from the bars that evening, sober, she was struck and killed by a drunk driver. Lindsay was 22 years old.
Our moms have worked together for the past 23 years, so although we didn't necessarily grow up together, we grew up around each other. I remember the oddest things, like how she went through a period of time when she would only eat green beans. She was one of the people in this world who lit up a room just by passing through, with her warm smile and sparkling personality. And she danced-- oh, how she danced. When Lindsay performed, you could do nothing but watch in awe as this tiny person twirled and leaped and so gracefully moved across the stage.
She was set to graduate with a Masters in Accounting and her CPA certification from Texas A&M in May of 2009.
Today my heart breaks for her friends and her family, for so many people who were so blessed to have been touched by Lindsay's presence in their lives. Most of all, I pray for her mama. They were best friends in a way that only a mother and daughter can be, and I cannot even imagine what her mama has been through and still battles every day.
At 5:30 this evening, my mom and her coworkers, the people who all watched Lindsay grow up to be the amazing person that she was, are releasing balloons and observing a moment of silence in her memory. If you feel so inclined, take just a brief moment to send out a little prayer of strength for Lindsay's family today.
