Remembering Others

I watched the movie Coco the other day on a flight.  It's a really cute movie about a boy stuck in the Land of the Dead.  It's a cartoon, so don't fret - it's still very cute and great for kids.

At one point in the movie, "Miguel (main character) encounters Héctor, a down-on-his-luck skeleton who once played music with Ernesto (the guy Miguel is trying to talk to). Héctor offers to help Miguel reach Ernesto; in return, he asks Miguel to take his photo back to the Land of the Living, so that he might visit his daughter before she forgets him and he disappears completely."

The part of the movie that made me sad is the very last part:  before she forgets him.

The Day of the Dead (what the movie also revolves around) is a Mexican holiday celebrated by people of Mexican ancestry. It is acknowledged internationally in many other cultures. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.

I don't even care about myself, honestly.  If I die tomorrow and no one remembers me within a few years, I'm okay with that.  But what I'm NOT okay with is people forgetting about my Mom.  The main reason I would love for friends to think about me on Mother's Day is because my Mom was so very special to me and she DESERVES to be remembered.

And now that my friend Dave has passed, what happens to his memory?  I don't want him forgotten either.

I think as we get older, this crosses our minds.  I mean, I know that there are millions of people we know nothing about who had no impact on history.  So, it's not just my Mom and Dave who eventually wont be remembered.  But boy, even typing that sentence out caused physical heart pains. 

After I'm gone, who will talk of my Mom?  I suppose anyone who happens to run across my blog will know of Toni Bailey (if this blog just magically stays up years after my passing).  But it saddens me to realize that some day I wont be around to help her be remembered.    

WTF.

Don't Get Complacent

I went to Silver Spring, MD for work last week.  That is where our headquarters is for my job, so I've been there about 15-20 times I think?  I mostly go for meetings.

The last few years I have been doing more outdoor things.  When I visit places, I find parks or beaches or gardens to walk at.  Now, I didn't do this before tho.  So, all those times I traveled to Silver Spring, MD, I never ventured anywhere but between the meeting room and my hotel.

One of my friends asked me, "You going to walk in a park while you're there?"

Uh, what?

It hadn't even OCCURRED to me at all to walk in a park or to look to see if there were any close by to take advantage of!

So, I did a little digging before I went and saw a cool, large park about 2 miles or so away.  Then I found a place that had 13 miles of formal gardens!  It's called the "Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens."  I was SO excited!  But alas, the hours were 10am to 5pm, right in the middle of my meeting all week.

But, I have decided that next time I go to Silver Spring for a meeting, I will work my flight so that I can arrive a little earlier than I'm used to to go check it out!

I didn't get to the park due to long days and not feeling well due to a tooth issue, but I am so thankful my friend Tina asked me that awesome question.  I don't know why it hadn't crossed my mind to see what parks were close.  Just because I couldn't SEE parks all the times I went to Silver Spring, didn't mean they didn't have any great ones to explore.  Before, I focused more on getting back to my hotel room as soon as possible to get out of downtown Silver Spring. 

Next time, watch out!  The entire green area below is all a PARK!

Missing Someone At the Same Time?

If two people made an impact to each other as their paths crossed, is there a chance they miss each other at the same time, unbeknownst to each other?

I wonder if that's even possible.  Seems far-fetched, but maybe not....the heart is a miracle in itself.