Ah, Life

    It's been a few simple days here at home. It's been crazy for many people. That glorious right of voting has once again brought anguish and vitriol from ruthless campaigning. While this is not a post for political leanings or my two cents worth on who, what, where, when, or even why, here's a simple reminder that this is by far not the first election to divide a nation (pretty sure historically, that happens every four years) and each election season people fly off the handle and turn on everyone who disagrees. I've watched and loathed it all for months, maybe even years. Because good grief, everyone can do their part, but in the end, it comes down to me and what I put on my ballot. My opinions are not bandied about and I'm not about to put down someone for disagreeing with me. I've not walked in their shoes. They haven't walked in mine. End of story.
    While I've watched the crazy, my thoughts have turned more home. I've been in a strange place in recent days. I have come face to face with the grief that comes from cancer. My aunt (if you've read my last post) has her ups and downs. A very dear friend is walking the same path of chemotherapy and radiation. And yet another beautiful soul who touched my family's life in the sweetest way passed away from her own multi-year fight with cancer a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday, I had several phone calls with the news that my great-aunt, after a long, fulfilling life, passed away. It seems like so much to take in. It's an ending. Tomorrow, I will be traveling to Texas to be with my family celebrating the life of the sweetest, gentlest woman I know and was blessed to be related to. While it's an end to the physical life, it's just not the end.
    Sunday night, I had a text from my brother and his wife. I'm the proud auntie of yet another nephew. Life is beautiful. Where one life ends, there is always another set to continue a legacy of living. There is no real ending. It's life, a continuation (I'm not about to start singing the "Circle of Life" for you). I want to hold all of those sick and dying and living close to my heart. So the world goes crazy. America loses her sight for a while. And life goes on. I'm more than aware that life can change from the political landscape. I'd be a fool to ignore it or discredit current issues, but I have the opportunity to appreciate the simplicity of life. I have the choice to not be swept up into the emotion that came from this campaign season. I've allowed myself to not fall to its intensity. I've been overwhelmed at times with the anger, the fear, the smugness that have possessed so many of my friends and family. That can't be healthy. Be concerned. Have your opinions. Do your part. But seriously, get a grip, take a step back, and think about the things that are far more precious to your life.
    Another thing about Sunday, my beautiful Evelynn decided she wanted to be baptized. There was a fantastic analogy in a sermon we heard Sunday morning. About peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You can't have that sandwich if you leave out the peanut butter or if you leave out the jelly. It's not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A simple analogy on sandwiches helped Evelynn along in her thinking. Believe and be baptized. Not just believe but be baptized. We got in the car and she tells me "You know, I believe, but if I don't follow through and get baptized like we're told to do, it's not going to count. Just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." After talking, and Keith's long drive home yesterday from Texas and a return trip for him tomorrow, our girl is getting baptized this evening. "It's one of the most important decisions I will ever make," she told me.
    Sickness, death, new life, a new spiritual life-- there's a beautiful simplicity in ignoring the crazy. I've thought it somehow ironic that on the few days leading up to election day, that my thoughts are more concerned with my family, of just doing the small daily things and thinking of my loved ones, and that on election day, when it seems people are losing their minds, my girl is making a decision to change her life. We have the choice to be calm, to make decisions free from anyone else's opinions or tantrums. It's quite American, really, to have all these choices. So keep calm and carry on. (And yes-- it's a British saying-- I don't care. It's my motto in life and I'm not rehashing the Revolution on election day.) You've done what you need to do. Let it go. There's too much living to do.