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The crazy thing is, my mom wouldn’t have had the good time she had today if my dad didn’t die from brain cancer a few years ago.
How’s that for an opening sentence?
Got your attention now, don’t I, you squirrelly bastards…
Anyway…
I just got off the phone with my mom. She played golf somewhere on Long Island today.
She played awfully, since she’s a rookie, but had a lovely day laughing with the ladies she recently met at the gym.
It’s crazy because there’s no way in hell, or even in heaven, today would have unfolded the way it did for my mom if my dad was still around.
They would have been at the beach. Or taking a drive somewhere. Or just sitting around the house together.
And I’m certainly not saying she’s happier to have the opportunity to play with friends and go on little adventures by herself. Neither of us are.
We’re both just relieved that she’s recovered.
Re-blossomed.
Smiling again.
Ahhhh to get chocked up in Starbucks while I write to you, dear reader. Something I’ve grown accustomed to.
So, I said supportively to my mom, “That’s so great that you had fun today.”
To which she said, “Well, I’m making it happen. I’m taking control.”
My God I love when marionettes say this. It’s just about my fav. But that’s a discussion for another time.
For now, “my” strings are being pulled to have this come from these keystrokes: I hate how hard it is to just exist sometimes. Hate. None of us asked to be here. But with that, my love for love
is infinitely more powerful. And I didn’t ask for that either, but I’m so goddamn grateful my cells and soul are arranged this way. And I’ve got more than enough to share with you. So please, in this moment, take a breath with me.
In exchange, all I ask from you is this – the next time you have a choice between kindness and selfishness, please choose kindness.
Because kindness is selflessness.
And selflessness is the operating system of this universe.
Like it or not.
– gabe