And Yet....

.... snarky comments are nothing. Someone who doesn't like me is nothing. My professional image or perceived lack thereof is not important. A web site design is not important. The questions I ask and the decisions I make regarding my business are of no consequence.

Not in light of a tragedy that reminds me what really IS important in life. Someone I love dearly just lost one of the most important people in her life. Her mother died very suddently. This young woman, who has just become a mother herself, is standing at the gates of a desolate looking world right now. I cannot imagine her pain, though I have lost enough people I have loved in my lifetime to have empathy for her. I wish with all my heart I could fly to Texas right now and embrace our sweet girl, surrounding her with love. I can't, and it hurts.

When those moments come upon us - the ones that move us to rapturous joy or knock us to our knees in grief - life is never in sharper focus. We see with a renewed perspective, a clearer eye, a stunned but focused mind. The news of this tragedy hitting my family just one hour ago has made me feel ridiculous for ever reacting to the negative comment in that past post as if it were actually important. It's not. None of this is.

People and relationships are important. Please, go thank someone, go hug someone. Call your mother and tell her you love her, even if you can't agree on anything at all in life. Because life is short, and life is real, and life is not forever.