Living Life

Birth is a beginning, and death a destination; But life is a journey.

This weekend I was reminded of how true that saying is.
On Thursday after I had my hair done I was lucky enough to be able to go down to Bill's apartment. We (and by we I mean Bill, Eric, Kelly, and myself) decided that every Thursday will be "family dinner night". It started a week before this past Thursday when Kelly made us delicious tortellini.

This Thursday was my turn to provide dinner for the four of us. I spent about an hour trying to figure out what to bring to cook. Finally I just grabbed a few things from my house and headed down to Bill's. When I got there I defrosted spicy Italian sausage, chopped red bell pepper, and boiled water for bowtie pasta.

I ended up taking the sausage out of the casing and browning it with olive oil. I added red bell peppers, garlic powder, and a half a jar of pasta sauce with parmesan. It ended up being more delicious than I thought it would be. Thank goodness!

After eating we played a few rounds of The Great Dalmuti. But like last time, Kelly got fed up with the game after not being able to get out of the greater peon spot (but honestly who wouldn't get fed up being called "greater peon"). After that Eric left and the three of us watched Red State by Kevin Smith. It was weird...but the ending had a few funny moments.

When I got home I went in to let my mom know I was back. This is when I reminded of life being a journey.

My mom told me that Ms. Lotte, the matriarch of our Temple, had passed away. I had known Ms. Lotte for most of my life. She spent hours sitting next to me crocheting when I was in the hospital with my MRSA. Her daughter is a friend of my mom's and I grew up with her youngest grandson. Ms. Lotte was amazing. She lived an amazing life and didn't let anything slow her down.

She passed away at the age of 94 and if I could live my life to half of the level of activeness Ms. Lotte did, my journey would be amazing.

I hadn't been back to my family's temple since my grandmother's funeral, and well it was hard. I've attended services at college and other places, but I haven't been able to go back into our synagogue. Unlike last time, there wasn't a casket in front. Ms. Lotte decided to donate her body (following the example of her husband Bill) to Emory for medical research and teaching.

Ms. Lotte's memorial was last night and I just know I will never, ever forget her. I love you Ms. Lotte, with all my heart and I hope you are able to look down and see just how many people you reached in your glorious 94 years of life.

This...life event...has made me even more excited about my life and what's upcoming. In about 4 weeks I'll be done stepping down my pain meds and will finally feel great again. Here's to living life!

Jessica