The Coolest Thing

It could've happened anywhere, but I just love this city so dang much. It highlights the awesomeness of following your whims in a city where hustle and bustle almost always take the lead.

Wednesday night I received a postcard with a lovely Gauguin painting on the front of two smart and mischievous-looking women. On the back read:

Simonian,
I found an empty envelope on the ground on 5th Ave. and 14th St. It was a welcome treat to find such a lonely envelope and I felt it necessary to send a little postal cheer back your way. I hope this post-card finds you well and happy. Spring is coming and the city will soon be at its best. Good luck in all you pursue this spring and beyond!
-Emily

She included her address, should I want to write her back, and of course I did for a myriad of reasons. But mostly for this one - it's so easy to forget how to LIVE. It's easy to remember all the crap we have to do or get done, but it feels so extra-special to be on the receiving end of unanticipated well-wishes, and even more satisfying to throw a handful of seeds into the air and be content to see or not see - what grows. It's a reminder of how important, and easy it is - to keep life interesting.

Thanks Emily!

Thisisgonnabequick!

Listen. I have no business writing right now.... I'm supposed to be studying for a huge-o homeopathy board exam that I may likely fail (though I'm not supposed to say that). But my family and I have had a rough few weeks, as my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, then had a lumpectomy, and was deemed healthy yesterday. They got 'it all' apparently, and her protocol involves radiation and a drug she doesn't want to take. As a matter of fact, I'll post her email to all of us kids here:

Subject: Me Me Me
Just a quick note to let you know that I am going to live to a ripe (or withered) old age. My cancer hasn't metastasized and only one of three lymph nodes showed cancer. The next step seems to be radiation for 6 weeks and then whatever the oncologist suggests. Except that I am not open to oncology suggestions. I am still following an intense homeopathic protocol and at this time don't see the need for anything further. Thanks for your support of me and your dad through some rather unsettling days. Love, Connie

We're so happy. I don't know if you can tell what she's like from this email, but she's a singular lady. That was the big problem with imagining my mom dying. How would I explain her to anyone who never met her?

My friend Patty Griffin (I don't even know her, but damn, her music!) says 'As far as I can tell most everything mean nothing, except some things mean everything.'

'nuff said.