Friday, February 26, 2010

Day 319
Día 319

Rainbow over old Folsom ...
Un arco iris sobre el antiguo Folsom ...
Over the clock tower ...
Sobre la torre del reloj ...
And over the Rainbow Bridge
Y sobre el Puente Arco Iris

Today started off with terrible news. As I was driving to work, on this rainy and overcast day, I got a call telling me that my friend Katie was seriously ill. I pulled over and said a prayer. Later in the morning I found she had been diagnosed with meningitis. Her sister, Kelly, began posting updates on the Caring Bridge website. The first time I logged on to the site I noticed how many people had already visited the site. I felt great comfort seeing how many people are thinking about her.

At work, there has been a big corporate effort to try to emphasize what they call life-work balance but the stress in the work place is tremendous. We had already gone 11 days of straight work and today I realized that all this work does not promote a healthy environment. I realize that the life part of this effort needs to take priority. I also realized that I need to make a concentrated effort to put the “life” part of this work as priority one. It always seems we (or at least I) don’t think about things that make us happy until something dramatic happens in our life or the life of those we dearly love.

When I heard about Katie I was floored I felt so sad all day. Thinking about the situation just made me realize how fragile we are and helped me reflect on how things can change so rapidly. I felt great comfort knowing her mom and dad were by her side. I felt great relief in seeing the posts Kelly was putting up throughout the day. I am very thankful Kelly is around to keep us all updated.

Please pray for Katie and for those that do not pray please keep her in your thoughts. I think all the positive energy we send her way and her tenaciousness will bring her back to health. Please get better Katie I miss your laughter, your spunky personality, and specially your company. I look forward to seeing you soon, hang in there my friend.

I think that when I saw the rainbow today I felt that things would get better for Katie. I remember when I was a little kid I always thought that the rainbow was God showing us His smile (upside down). After a great big storm, like today’s, when the strong winds, rain, snow, sleet, thunder and lightning (all or just some of these disturbances) occurred and the sun finally broke through it showed the beauty that’s all around us. It felt nice and things looked beautiful afterwards. Some life changing “storms” happen but as we weather the storm and we get passed it we get to see the beauty that follows. Right now, I believe, Katie is going though this storm and her friends are there for her. I’m thankful for the support those people are showing. I’m thankful her parents are by her side. I’m especially thankful for her sister Kelly for being by her side and helping her weather the storm. Family is one of the greatest gifts of all.

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