No. I’ve not been on an Alaskan cruise. But an Alaskan cruise still changed my life. Here’s how:
My best friend, Angela, and our friend Jacqui went on an Alaskan cruise a few years ago. While on that cruise, and while relaxing in a hot tub, Angela met Edi, and now Angela and Edi are married.
Angela and I have known each other for nineteen years. We’ve experienced half of each other’s lives together and shared both joy and sorrow.
Singing together has been one of our greatest joys even though we cannot successfully sing the correct notes of “I Don’t Need Anything But You” from Annie no matter how hard we try—and trying to sing it to Angela’s daughter, Isabelle, today was no exception!
Grieving the loss of Angela’s dad ten years ago and the sudden death of her son, Sam, on Saturday have been our greatest sorrows.
Today, as I sat at Angela’s kitchen table with Edi, I laughed after he said, “You can have that piece of cake, honey.” “Thank you, sweetheart,” I responded, and then we sat and talked.
A little while before that exchange, I sat at that same kitchen table with Isabelle and smiled as she painted my finger nails a very bright pink. She’s two-and-a-half years old and has a newly painted room thanks to the painting efforts of Deanna and Jacqui. She also has a new favorite bath-time activity thanks to Deanna—the bubble beard.
And a little while later, I sat at the kitchen table again and shared a delicious meal with Angela’s family. As I ate, I was overwhelmed by the reality that had Angela and Jacqui not gone on that Alaskan cruise then Angela would not have met Edi; and if Angela and Edi had not met and fallen in love then Isabelle wouldn’t have been born; and if Isabelle wouldn’t have been born then I wouldn’t know an extremely intelligent, full of life little girl; and if I didn’t know Isabelle then I would be sad…
And if I hadn’t known Sam, then I would be sad, too.
As Angela’s uncle said at Sam’s funeral last night, Sam’s death sucks. There are no words to explain it. There is no way to understand it. It is heartbreaking reality that will impact us for the rest of our lives. But so will Sam’s “classic” life that created sweet memories for those of us who had the privilege of holding him, singing to him, loving him, and making him smile…
One of the songs that Angela and I can sing is “Never Saw Blue Like That,” and we’ve done just that many times before. The thing that both of us really like about the song is that it does not resolve at the end. Instead, it leaves the listener hanging—wanting more—and knowing that there is more to come…
For many years, Angela and I refused to call each other “best friend.” Each of us had had bad experiences with “best friends” leaving after the title had been bestowed, so we avoided the title. But somewhere along the way, we decided to stop avoiding the title and to just call it as it was. And I’m so glad we did…because together we now know that while all things do not end as projected, all will be well and that there is beauty yet to come…and it lies in cruises and hot tubs and cake and pet names and newly painted rooms and laughter and pink finger nail polish and bubble beards.
No comments:
Post a Comment