You Just Never Know....

Life is strange. Events, moments can be oddly connected - some days more than others. Or maybe we don't always notice - we are not always "awake". My favourite horoscope site -
http://www.cainer.com - had this to say today for Libra:

Something amazing is happening to you, right at this very moment. What is this wonderful process? It's the breath going in and out of your body, the blood going in and out of your heart, the light going in and out of your eyes. How can you possibly want any more than this? OK. Don't answer that. But do start, now, by stopping to appreciate the miraculous gift which is your life. Once you stop taking this for granted, you may also start to recognise other blessings and advantages that you have similarly been too close to to appreciate properly.

I work in a library and a student today asked me about types of paper. I didn't know all that much about it, so as many people do these days, I googled "types of paper", and found this site: http://www.andreas.com/faq-papertypes.html . I was immediately drawn to the picture of the cat near the url. I love cats - I adopt strays - I have ahem (a few). And so I began to explore this site, and stopped for a long visit at the Susan section: http://www.andreas.com/susan/ - a touching and vivid account of a heart transplant patient, but it is so much more - so much more. I lost my brother and mother 2 years ago, and recently just before Christmas, my father passed away. I feel sad a lot of the time, and death fills my thoughts as well as thoughts about what will finally "do me in". Anyway, it was odd reading about all that happened to Susan, now over 10 years ago. But it was compelling, so I went on to read and when I finally reached Susan's tombstone, the last section - I cried. The image of the cat curled on the stone touched me so very much: http://www.andreas.com/susan/oneyear.html .

We never know how what we say, do or write will touch others - I suppose that is one reason perhaps that so many of us keep blogs – although I doubt it is a conscious thing. For me, a few hours ago, it all started with a google search on types of paper, and here I was reading about an incredible story of courage, love, community - people who have never met, sharing their thoughts, their pain, their grief. It's not the destination, but the journey, as someone once wrote. One journey ends, another begins, and we learn, and in this way, perhaps humanity has a chance. It is a strange, surprising, sometimes sad, often joyous journey. The odds of having that horoscope, about life and blood and the heart, and coming across this site, of all the thousand and thousands out there. Reading the story of Susan has touched me in a special way - and in some ways that may not yet be entirely clear at the moment. This is a person that I never met, wife of a man called Andreas, a lover of cats, a vibrant and loving woman who was taken away too soon, and yet, 10 years later, has touched someone else's life.

Yes, life is strange, and as Susan said "life goes on."