a reminder to tell them that you love them

I think that I am a person who deals with losing loved ones pretty well. Not to say that it is easy for me, that is the opposite of true, but to say that I can stand up tall and continue - all the while knowing that that's what they would want me to do, and that even if I put on a brave face, I am thinking about them daily and holding onto our relationships in my heart so tightly that it's almost bursting. 

Something happened today that reminded me of something that you learn when you're a little kid, kind of a cliche but it seems more true than ever recently:

Never leave the presence of someone you love on a sad or angry note.

 Always remember to say "I love you" 

and tell them how much you appreciate them. 

Today, about 3 blocks from my mom's house, a random man walked into Cafe Racer (a cozy bar/cafe that I have been to at least a handful of times, really relaxed and comforting) and shot five people, two of whom I've met and seen play music on multiple occasions.  There were apparently helicopters hovering in my mom's neighborhood for hours and the police ran through her back yard in search of the suspect. He went on from there to kill another woman and attempt suicide. 

For some reason this just seemed like a wake up call, because on any other day my mom could have been walking down that street, or out into the alley or gotten between that man and the direction he wanted to go in some other way. It's weird to be in a new city so far away from her. 

I love you, mom. I'm so happy you're safe.


xkcd explains this pretty well, as most things: http://xkcd.com/791/
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a couple days after this, my mom went to cafe racer and put some of the roses from the bush that's been mine since i was a kid there, amongst the many other flowers and gifts.