Two gardening friends died and another friend lost her dad within the past week. Made for kind of a sad passing of time here, and this cold, gray and brown, rag tag winter is no help to the spirit. Oddly enough, both friends were named Linda and both had suffered the indignity of cancer for several years. Both Lindas would put you at ease with their unobtrusive, common humanity. One Linda was one of the most graceful women I've ever ever known. And the other Linda was a lot like me in many ways - odd and quirky - only she was pretty, and had a great, subtle, self deprecating sense of humor that some people just didn't 'get'...
They were both people who loved their lives, even though they weren't dealt "winning hands".
I usually dig up some excuse to miss funerals. I really hate funerals but this time I forced myself to go to a "viewing" and just seeing a few of my living friends there provided a small warm glimmer in the gloom.
I subscribe to the Sierra Club's "Daily Ray of Hope" - it consists of a daily beautiful photo paired with a thoughtful quotation. Coincidentally this was the latest quotation, from another memorable character:
"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy. "
-- Joseph Campbell
