Purpose

Today's entry, unfortunately, is not an amusing one. I thought I'd drop the sarcasm and goofiness for a day to provoke some thoughts within all of us. This is brought on by the fact that my grandfather, one of the loves of my life, is in his final days. At 88, he's lived an amazing life, experienced the world and its wonders, had a fabulous family, and his health up until about 4 years ago. Since then, those of us who love him, have watched him slowly fade from the 6'3" muscular frame of a man to what I call a man no longer defying age. Over the last couple years, he's gone blind, suffered a massive stroke, renal failure and all the other nasty buggers that visit us in our aging state of mortality. But the impressive thing is, he's always maintained his wonderful sense of humor and loving demeanor. He is, to this day, still that same man mentally that used to raise me above him and yell, "I'm sending you to the moon" while I giggled hysterically.

But something occurred to me (that may have already occurred to you) on the cruise the other evening. After we sang Happy Birthday to crazy Simon (old man who asked me to be his girlfriend), he proceeded to tell us a story about how at 64 he underwent a triple bypass after having a massive heart attack. His prognosis was so grave following the surgery that they summoned the priest to give Simon his last rites. At this point in the story, Simon said the following: "But the Big Guy had a different plan for me. He decided that I needed to regain my health and stay here on Earth to meet more great friends and experience all that the world had to offer me. And that's exactly what I've been doing for the past 6 years - tonight being the perfect example."

I thought about that for a while, and I realized that maybe there is a reason for all that happens. Some kind of plan. And the purpose to life is to love those who love you. And enjoy all that life has to offer. For the first time in my 27 years, I began considering my own mortality and my own purpose. That story, combined with my current personal situation with losing my grandfather, and watching the annihilation of the Gulf Coast, was one of the most eye-opening experiences I've had and for that, I am incredibly grateful.

Some people go through life angry at themselves, and angry at others. And the truth is, that's not living life. I believe that in the time that I've been around, my grandpa lived his life, released his anger, and began enjoying life. Even after losing my grandma, he maintained the family bonds and found pleasure in life in those he loves. I don't know if that's how he's always been, but, I know that from that example and the examples of Simon and my parents, I want to enjoy life to it's fullest because it doesn't last forever.

Don't worry, I'm not going to start jumping out of planes and wrestling alligators. I'll stick to expensive shoes and cherishing all the great times I have with my friends and family. Because I understand now, that by doing that, life will open up to you the experiences that you were meant to experience and hopefully, in time, reveal each of our purposes in life.

I say goodbye to my grandpa through here - through you reading this. He is a man of brilliance, love, laughter, and great character. And I am thoroughly blessed to have had all this time with him and to share all the great memories we have - just him and I. I love him through and through and only wish now that he be at peace and comfortable. And when the "Big Man" (or "Big Woman" as I pointed out) is ready for him to end his journey here, that he will start a new journey that will last forever.

Love those around you. I know this sounds "duh" or "cheesy", but, it's truly how I'm feeling today. That's my challenge to you - constantly love and enjoy those around you.

Until tomorrow..... xoxo