Don't Worry..be Happy

I just got off the phone with Megan. She had her treatments yesterday, and has been very sick for the past 24 hours, but still keeps going. We talked about relationships, about children, and about aging, and we agreed that the only way to live life is to be happy.

I was just talking to someone recently who had gone to a seminar at the Omega Institute...and she had taken notes all weekend long about improving the quality of one's life etc. At the very end, the teacher ended it with "all that matters is that you are happy". With that she tore up the weekend's worth of notes, and on one single piece of paper, wrote "BE HAPPY".

Though it is hard to practice at times, I strive to be happy through the sorrow, pain, and loss that I feel in my life. I know it means growth and meaning for the large picture that we may not always be able to see.

Tonight I found great happiness in saying "I love you" to her, after sharing some silly stories about school or Alanna. No matter how hard it all is, we end the conversation with a smile and with love. Because in the end, that is all there is.

Tonight's picture is a bit morbid. It is a picture that someone in Megan's platoon took of her while she was taking a rest in the heat. I guess she put her dog tags over her eyes to keep out the light. The strength of the hot desert sun in Iraq is splashed across her face. Her scars show in such harshness......but they too have faded slowly with time.

This weekend is a peace march in several places...perhaps I will join one. Patti

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