If I were to sum up last week with one word it would be – capricious. Definition – given to sudden behavior change. Synonyms – up and down, unstable, etc. 🙂 You can’t say you don’t learn from my site!
In all seriousness this week was simply crazy. After dealing with the family drama I entered into the events of the reunion. It was fun to see friends I hadn’t seen in five, ten and even 20 years. Yes, I ran into ‘Paul’ and I feel I handled it very well. I had some classmates come and talk to me about how the book affected them. One in particular said it helped to finally talk about the abuse they’d gone through as a child with their family which led to other siblings confiding in abuse by the same person. Another classmate was nearly brought to tears as they apologized for ‘not knowing’ and helping when we were teens and then went on to say they had listened to all of my video blogs and being that they have three daughter’s are scared to death at the prospect of what issues they face as they get older and wanted to know how they could keep them from cutting, etc. These classmates were both male and female and it was truly a validation from God to move forward with my head held high.
We all were struck with the reality of how delicate our lives can be when we were told Saturday morning that one of our classmates, Al Cotton, had passed away. Apparently he suffered from seizures and had a grand mal seizure. I know that when someone passes the first we hear is how amazing and kind the person was, but I’m here to tell you Al truly was an amazing person. From what I knew of him in high school (and what I’ve read on sites from his Mississippi State classmates and friends at his company Xplod) all continue to verify that Al knew no enemy’s. His life work was helping teens improve their skills and live life in a positive manor. He will surely be missed by many.
By Sunday morning I was ready to go to Mass and then head back home to Kingwood when my friend who had stayed over night from the reunion found out her cousin had passed away in a car accident the night before leaving her three year old daughter without any parents. My friend was in shock and devestated and trying to grasp the fact that she had promised her cousin she’d take care of her daughter if anything happened. Of course there is so much to be considered in these next weeks to come but in that second my friend’s life was changing and she was suffering a great loss of someone she was close to.
Once I made sure my friend was okay and she headed back to Dallas to her family I went to Mass to pray for all of my friends and this suffering. When Mass was over I was walking out to my car when a woman behind me said “I think I need to do more of my artwork. I’m a writer too, you know?” I stopped and looked at her, smiled and said, “Really, me too.” She then asked what I had written and I briefly gave her the name of the book and was politely ending the conversation because I needed to get on the road but she suddenly broke down and cried. Right there, on the sidewalk in front of St. Anne’s Catholic Church. She went on to tell me about her estranged relationships in her family, with her children, the suffering she is dealing with, etc. I know I have ‘odd’ things that happen to me at times but this one, though ‘odd’, I think was also a little bit of the fact she might have been suffering some anxieties which caused her to talk to me ‘suddenly’. If you get my drift? 😉
BUT I listened, conjoled and promised I would pray for her. As I tried to walk toward my car she followed and kept talking. I finally gave her a big hug and told her she was strong and that God would be there for her, not to take on the guilt or blame for what decisions her family was making. Then she said, “I know God sent you to me today. I know it. Thank you,” and then walked to her car.
See? CAPRICIOUS 🙂
Blessings
Shannon