Life then death then life goes on while we're lucky

My husband has zipped off to Arizona for the funeral of an old friend of ours.  Ed worked for him as the Chief of Campus Safety at Whittier College many years ago.  He was our friend and a wonderful guy.  He was too young - only 65 - and just two years older than my mother when she passed away.  I was thinking about Ed this week, recalling the times he lived nearby and would come to our home for dinner, laden with nasty, stanky (and I do mean STANG-ky, not stinky - stanky is much worse) cigars for the "boys" to smoke down by the pool.  I pointed out to them the remarkable NON-coincidence that each and every time they lit up one of those wet-bags-of-garbage-on-fire-sticks that our friendly neighborhood skunk would "le pew."  Does one need a less subtle sign that the stink sticks are just that?  Stink sticks!  Good grief, they were foul!!

When our daughter was in elementary school (I believe it was 4th grade), all of the students in her year were given the same writing assignment, to write a report about whatever native American Indian tribe they selected.  In his youth, Ed's parents divorced and, while living with his mother in Colorado, he was befriended by a gentleman in their apartment building that was a native of this country and assumed the role of father figure for Ed.  This gentleman took Ed under his wing and brought him up in his tribe's tradition.  Learning of Erica's school project, Ed volunteered to make a presentation to all of the 4th graders, followed by a special presentation in her class alone.  It was at this event that Ed adorned me with a necklace, inviting the children to guess the material of which the necklace was crafted.  Much to my disgust and the utter delight of the kids, Ed announced that the necklace was comprised of horse teeth.  He was now the hero of all of the 4th graders.  Gross!!!!!!!!  The kids loved it.

So today we appreciate life.  We are reminded that it is ever so short and we should enjoy the dopey little things like picking out all of the orange jelly beans from the bag of assorted Jelly Belly jelly beans, or cranking up the iTunes SOOOO loud and trying to dance with our teenage son until he runs laughing outside.  Today we rejoice in Ed's life and the wonderful (though sometimes STANKY) memories of times we shared.  We remind ourselves that "life is short!" and "stop and smell the roses" aren't just cliches, but good things to remember.

Sniff those roses!  Crank up the music, do a silly dance and wear hot shoes that give you blisters just because they're hot and make us look FAAAAAbulous.  OK, just for a few minutes.