This Thanksgiving, I road-tripped it out to my CA home in Amador County. With everything that’s happened this past month (well, quite frankly…YEAR!), I wasn’t going to go. I had a difficult time leaving responsibilities behind, unresolved issues, etc…but with so many friends and family convincing me that I had to go, I needed to go…I did, and I’m so very, very glad.
I love road-trippin’! Coffee…the open road…coffee…making stops along the way to visit friends…coffee…making new friends along the way…coffee…standing in line, six feet apart in a line of truckers at the Flying J and cracking jokes…coffee…eating greasy junk food and getting sick, LOL…coffee…stopping to soak in an amazing view, a sunrise, a sunset, a mountain, a valley, a star-filled sky…and coffee…
But what really convinced me to go was my very own Soul. Time really IS all we have!! If I had known that the very last time I’d see my Mom was the night before she was whisked away in an ambulance to the hospital, I would have broken every single freakin’ one of the “COVID rules”…ran up behind her, hugged her in the biggest bear hug ever and told her I loved her so very, very much. But the Time slipped away, like it does. We think “See you tomorrow” or “See you next time”…but there may not be a tomorrow. There may not be a “next time”. That changes you..it grieves you, riddles you with tons of regret.
So I spent Thanksgiving in California with my BFF-Sister, Tory, and her family and my son, Kevin…went to the Tree Lighting in Jackson, CA…shopped until I dropped in Sutter Creek…scheduled out an entire two days in order to try my very best to see as many friends as I could…just to spend some Time catching up with them. Just looking at them; catching that "mind-photo". Laughing and crying with them. Would it be the last time I see them? Who knows! But at least I wouldn’t have the regret of not running up to them, hugging them from behind in a great big bear hug, and telling them I love them so very, very much.
Road trips give me a whole lot of time to think about the Nouns in my life. People, Places and Things. I know there are so many People who hurt, in some way or another, and I want to be there to listen, maybe help in some way. There are Places to go, Things to fill the senses. There’s nothing like cranking my music/playlists, singing at the top of my lungs to so many tunes that trigger memories, good and bad. Good for obvious reasons…bad because of lessons learned.
Now the Christmas holidays are upon us. 2020 has been the year from Hell. Masks. Distancing. Isolation. Quarantine. After a year of so much toil, struggle and strife, I pause to reflect upon what is most important…
TIME!
Spend some Time with those you love! Spend some Time with your local small businesses who are and have been struggling to keep their doors open! Spend some Time in a soup kitchen, a food bank, a homeless shelter. Spend some Time with your family, loved ones, neighbors, friends…even if you have to mask up, even if you have to stand outside their window, 6 feet away, in the freezing Wyoming cold. DO it!
And when I say spend some “Time”, I mean giving it some thought. Maybe you just can’t spend Time at a homeless shelter, but...spend a few minutes giving a donation, no matter how large or small. Maybe you just can’t spend Time with your family and friends, but spend a few minutes sending a card, video chat, message or text that will show that you are thinking about them, that you love them, that you have taken Time, just for them. Maybe you can’t stand outside in the freezing cold for long to chat with a loved one in an assisted living facility, but you know what?
If that was going to be the very last Time you saw them…
No matter where you are on this planet called Earth...time is what we have. So make it about Love rather than hate. Good than bad. Strength than weakness.
I love you all...and I do mean, ALL!
"I'll be gone...in a day or twoooooo!"
Carol
NOTE: The reason I post this YouTube...is because it has a story behind it. At one of the lowest points of my [First] Life, I told myself that if I ever got to a point to where I had a convertible/sunroof in my car, sunglasses and a scarf blowing in the wind on the open road...I would open it all up and crank this song. I dedicate this to my BFF-Sister Tory. I love you!
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