Coming and Going

Does your life sometimes feel like a “Lifetime Hotel?” Mine too….there are constantly people, places, and things coming and going. Talk about feeling like a conveyor belt…I guess life always makes us grapple with changes.

Each year that rolls around I’m always astonished at the people who have left my life, and the new ones that have come along. Indeed, there are always those that seem to be around…but on the edges there are always the losses, and the welcomes. Even now as I speak, there are two elderly members of my family that are entering the final stages of their lives. As much as I want them to live forever, I understand that there is a time for everyone. Watching how they are coming to terms with their circumstances gives me great strength, dignity, and courage in my own life. They talk freely about how much time they have left, how they want to be remembered, and their wishes for after they are gone. This past Christmas many of my family gathered around the table laughing and joking that we were all “still here,” while out of the corners of our eyes there was a glance, wondering, would we all still be around to celebrate another holiday?

At the same time, new life entered the fold…nothing is more miraculous than seeing the shine in a newborn baby’s eyes…reminding us all what a miracle Life truly is. The children look to us for guidance, for us to show them around Life’s Hotel…the safe places to play, the rooms to avoid. As the merry-go-round of Life spins it wheel each year, it never ceases to amaze me who jumps on, and who jumps off. This time of year in the northeast of the United States, the ground, the flowers, the trees awaken with new life….ready to blossom and bring forth their rainbow, knowing full well that in the Fall, they too will fold up and go away for the Winter.

We all live on the merry-go-round….being told when we got on, and wondering when we too must jump off. The merry-go-round of Life is quite busy, while also quite peaceful. There are no real surprises….we all know that we come, and we go. What happens in-between is what it’s all about.

Enjoy the ride,

Jennifer Avalon