Politics

A new journey has begun in my life. My husband decided he wants to run for our school district's governing board. It's a four year position which he has to be elected into office for. I"m excited that he wants to do this because he hasn't been able to get a job as a principal so I feel this would be a great avenue for him to get more educational experience and I think he would find fulfillment in doing. He has a great background in education having been a teacher for the past 15 years. He has a passion for education and he knows what is currently going on in the educational system. In my mind he is the perfect candidate for the job. He just has to beat one incumbent to get the seat.

Now for the journey part. We are diving into unknown waters. We are running a campaign. We are raising funds, getting endorsements, creating websites, donation options and now getting involved with the Republican party. Luckily we have a city councilmen helping us every step of the way. We went to our first meeting tonight where my husband was officially endorsed by the Republican Party. It's all very exciting but also opening our eyes to this whole new world of politics. Our lives will never be the same because I know my husband will now become active in the party and it will become a part of our lives. I"m a Democratic who leans close to the Republican side but I"m not ready to give up my voter status. Luckily he is running for a non-partisan position so I don't have to pledge my allegiance to the Republicans just yet. I know this is just the beginning of journey as I see him pursuing higher levels of educational political offices in the years to come. I support him 100% but only time will tell where our journey will lead us. First things first... winning in November.

Given Notice

I had a co-worker die this week from colon cancer. She was diagnosed at almost 48 and died 18 months later. She fought the most valiant fight. She never asked "why me?". She never wallowed in her circumstance. She accepted her fate even as she fought hard to prolong the inevitable. She shared with us on Facebook her journey and she re-iterated how thankful she was that she was given "notice" of her death. It gave her time to write letters to her only child. Letters for his birthdays, graduations, wedding, life moments that she will not be here to experience with him. It gave her time to say her goodbyes and to go on a lot of vacations. She got a lot of life in in a very short amount of time.

I think I'd personally rather be given notice too. We are never really prepared to die but I'd hate to wake up one day and die before the day was over. I would not have time to do the things my co-worker was able to do. So I try daily to live my life to the fullest. I check off my bucket list and I tell my love ones all the time that I love them just in case it's the last time. If my death is sudden I want them to know how I feel and know that they were loved. I want them to know I lived a full life and I made the most of my days. What about you?

15 years ago today

It's been 15 years today since I lost my friend Tara to breast cancer. She was 31 when she died. She was 26 when she was diagnosed. She fought a hard 5 year battle but ultimately lost. I was in my twenty's when she died. I had experienced the death of my grandmother earlier that year but no one else had yet to depart my world. I have a lot of regrets in regards to my time with Tara. My first regret was that I never really thought she was going to die. I mean I knew she had cancer but for some reason her telling me she had spots   in different areas( lungs, brain etc) didn't register that she was already pretty along in her fight. I called her regularly and I tried to see her fairly often. I don't know if I was encouraging to her or discouraging to her. Sometimes I think I said the wrong things. Maybe I didn't listen enough. Maybe I talked too much. I remember giving her a book "When bad things happen to good people" along with an Angels inspiration book. She liked the angel book because it was uplifting. I don't know what I was thinking giving her the other book. I remember having conversations about her cancer and comparing it to another person who told me their cancer story. Why did I even bring up this other person's story?

I often calk up my actions to thinking it was because I was young and like I said had not experienced a lot of death or cancer in my life.I wish I could chat with her one last time and say I"m sorry for any of the stupid things I said to her which probably didn't make her feel better. I would of taken lots more pictures with her. I would of been more in tune to the gravity of her situation. I would of hugged her more. There are lots of things I probably would of done different given the opportunity to interact with her again.

I can say though that her life had a great impact on me. I immediately wanted to make sure her life had meaning and had touched me in some way. She died in August and a few months later I began volunteering at the American Cancer Society. I wanted to make a difference and I wanted to pay tribute to my beautiful friend. I've been on a committee for kids who are dealing with cancer for fifteen years now and it's all because of Tara. I still miss her and I still have regrets but that life experience has forever changed me and for that I am thankful.