Happy Sunday!
Yes, it is Sunday. I know this is a couple of days late. Yesterday was beautifully hot out which is why I stayed in and binge-watched NCIS with Dad. Today I'm at work while I write this post. The library is pretty quiet so I should be able to be productive...I hope. When I was outside earlier, it was a little hot but I felt a breeze. It would be a perfect day to go outside and get some vitamin D. Who knows you might even get a tan? Okay, I would fry like a french fry even with sunblock on; you don't have to be out there for that long. An hour or two would be good for your lungs to get some fresh air.
Here's the link to my latest Odyssey article: 10 Things I Learned From My Dad.
There is reason I couldn't post on Friday. It's something I want to share and talk about. If you don't know already, my mother, Joyce, is a 16 year survivor of breast cancer. Friday night was Delaware County's Relay For Life. This event is jointed with the American Cancer Society and honors and remembers the people whose lives were affected by cancer. So far I have experienced two different county's Relay For Life events, and they were pretty similar. Each included a track for walking/running/jogging, the Survivors Lap, Caregivers/loved ones lap, team laps, luminaries, and other events throughout the the time. Here is a link to learn more about ACS's Relay For Life event and to find the closest one nearest you.
Ever since my mother was diagnosed in 2000, I have been to 9 events to support her and her courageous battle. I was about 4 when my mother received the diagnosis and now I'm 20. So I don't remember much, except what my family tells me. I know it was hard for my mother to balance 3 growing children, a husband, jobs, and then add radiation and chemotherapy treatments. At times she was overwhelmed, frustrated, and wondered why God did this thing to her. But she said then and continues to reminds myself and my siblings to this day that if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. And He did. My mother's faith in the doctors, nurses, family, friends, and many others, and most importantly her faith in God brought her through it. She got to see my siblings and I graduate from high school, my brother and sister graduate from college, and in another year and half, she'll watch me walk the stage and graduate. She will experience her own graduation with an AA degree next spring. She will experience so much more; it's like she got a second chance at life.
This event is something so close to my heart because my mom and other people whose lives have been affected by cancer. Some people weren't as lucky. Some people found out too late and the cancer already took over their bodies. They are the reason why I relay. I relay for my mom. I relay for my grandma. I relay for all the close family-friends who lost the fight to cancer. I relay for those who continue the fight. I relay for those are not able to walk.
Until next week,
Thought of the day
Happy Friday!
Hello, my readers. This might surprise you but I'm actually writing on this on a Friday. I hope all is well with you all. The weather is gorgeous out (I got to eat outside and I didn't want to go back in), which is a plus. I'm going home for the weekend, which is another plus. It is my hope you can go out and enjoy the beautiful weather at some point this weekend. Go get some vitamin D; it's free, but please, if you are like me and burn easily, put some sunscreen on. As far as I know, it's supposed to rain on Monday, so we should take advantage of the beautiful weather while we have it. Because it's Iowa and the weather can change so fast.
Here's the link to my latest Odyssey article: Here Is What Matters After A Sexual Assault.
Okay, I'm finally getting around to writing this post. Like I have said before, not everyone grew up learning the same exact values, habits, lessons, and etc. At times this can be extremely frustrating. But another factor in the "not everyone grew up the same" is perspective. Particularly in America where the country is practically founded on the idea that everyone is different; everyone will have differing opinions and viewpoints; everyone can disagree and debate; and this is okay, encouraged even.
One of my favorite quotes about perspective is actually from the late Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird. It's something Atticus Finch tells Scout and she turns around and takes it to heart.
This is why it is so important to try to see the world from another person's point of view. So often we get caught up in our differences and lose sight of what we have in common. This frustrates me about Congress. It seems like all I hear on the news is there is so many bills trying to get passed but none seem to go through because they are spending so much time focusing on the wrong things.
This also happens in every day life too. We get so frustrated when people don't live the way we do, act the way we do, and so on. That's the point. We are wasting time arguing about how people should live, how they should act, when we could be discovering things we might have in common and enjoying learning new things.
Until next week,
Happy Saturday!
My fellow readers! I hope you survived okay this week and yesterday especially. Walking home from work yesterday was hot and humid but luckily the wind blew just enough to make the 18 some minutes bearable. And today it seems to be the same case. So, if you are going outside and will be out for a good chunk of time, please, please, stay hydrated and cool as you can. Also, this shouldn't need saying but it seems to happen every year around this time, please don't keep little kids and pets inside cars when it is this hot and humid out.
I want to give a little shout out to my fellow library co-workers for surviving the first week with a new system to check in/out books, etc. I know it's still new and challenging and patience-testing, but we can do this (with the aid of chocolate). Also, it was quite the surprise to see Ciara, a past library co-worker, yesterday! I literally jumped out of my chair to go give her a (running) hug. So this week was balanced out well.
Here's the link to my latest Odyssey article: College Students During Summer, As Told By Jimmy Fallon.
Life is short. We know this. Or at least we think we know it. When we lose someone close to us and while we are in mourning, we are reminded of an absolute, one of the few things life can guarantee. Life is short. No matter what we do to make us live just a little bit longer, life finds a way. As morbid as that might seem, it's the truth.
But the tricky thing life does, or maybe we do it to ourselves, we find a way out of our sadness and continue to live with the loss. We get lost in our routine of our day to day life, and somehow we forget or take for granted the things and people we love most in our lives. And without meaning to, we let ourselves get comfortable again.
Until it happens again. Someone close to us is taken from us and in some way it remind us of our own mortality. That just like your loved one, your life can end just like their's did. And we repeat the process over again. Now, I'm not trying how to live your life. Life is short, and we can't let routine fool us into forgetting the life is short.
Rest in peace, Christina Grimmie
Happy Sunday!
Hello, fellow readers of mine. I hope you enjoyed the weekend like I did. The weather, for the most part, lent itself for people get out and breathe in the fresh air.
There is reason why I am a little late in posting this week. I made the 3 hour trip from Cedar Falls to Spencer, IA to spend the weekend with Courtney before the summer gets me too busy. We went to see a couple of movies; I got to finally meet her parents and her 3 entertaining dogs; Courtney showed me around her hometown of Laurens, IA, and much more! I want to thank Courtney, her mom and dad, and her dogs for letting me stay for the weekend! It was quite an entertaining and enjoyable time.
This post will contain some spoilers for the movie and this post is not a movie or book review.
One of the movies Courtney and I went to was called Me Before You. It was a film-adaptation of the book of the same name which was authored by Jojo Moyes. Now, we knew before going into the movie that will be sad and there would be many tears shed. After? This movie actually left what felt like a gaping hole in my heart and some food for thought.
The movie follows Will Traynor, a man turned into a sarcastically blunt and bitter quadriplegic after being hit by a vehicle, and 20-something, chatty woman, Louisa Clarke, with a quirky sense of style. Louisa is hired to essentially cheer him up and tries to do until she accidentally overhears the news that Will gave his parents 6 more months then he wanted to end his painful life through assisted suicide. She is momentarily set back but her sister inspires her to make his last months filled with bucket-list-like activities. Along the way, in my thoughts, the two opposites attract and fall in love. A part of me thinks she hoped that her efforts could help him change his mind about the assisted suicide. In the end, his mind couldn't be changed.
This is the food for thought. I am not well-researched on the topic of assisted suicide, but here are my thoughts and opinions on this. In the story of Will, his day-to-day life was a painful uphill battle and even the slightest hitch caused an enormous amount of problems. It comes back to the quality versus quantity/quantitative debate. What it comes down to is choice. It's the choice of the person and the quality of life they want for themselves. It's their choice. The loved ones of the person? It's not up to them to make it.
What they can do is support the said person, cherish them, love them. While the loved ones might disapprove and try to convince them to change their mind, the only person who has control over your body is YOU and (should) only be you. I'm not sure if this is something someone has said before or not, so, if it is, I apologize for my ignorance. Love isn't about control. And to love someone means not controlling or trying to control them, make decisions for them. Love is appreciation, not control.
Until next week,
Thought of the day
