What a Week......Remembering What Matters

If you follow me on facebook you will know that I rarely post sad or bad stuff....I really believe in being silly, fun and using facebook to light up others lives or express joy/love. I feel the same about blogging....but less so because I believe it is a great place to share struggles and challenges in a longer format/context. Well, this week was a challenging week for me personally and professionally.

On Monday I got a call from a good friend of ours that their 25 year old daughter had passed away unexpectedly. She was beautiful inside and out and her life ended too soon. I don't know all the details behind her death but I know she died in her sleep and her family is not surprisingly devastated. Jody and I were both taken aback by it and forced to think about how we would deal with something so tragic if it happened to us. I don't know how I would ever get past the pain.

Jody left Monday night for a week long ski trip (thrilled he could go - it was a last minute trip that came together for him with a good friend) and on Wednesday morning I got more bad news. A coworker of mine committed suicide on Tuesday night. It is a tragic story - he had lost his brother a few years ago in a tragic car accident and his mother passed away three months ago. He had been going through a very rough time and his depression had started to severely affected his relationship and his girlfriend broke up with him. It was apparently too much for him to take and he ended his life. He lived with his girlfriend and she also works at our office. Between the two of them, they touched many, many lives. He was absolutely hilarious and was a genuinely good person who worked hard and impressed our clients every step of the way. He will be missed.

As you can imagine, Wednesday was a whirlwind - not only were we all dealing with our own tragedy, I had to communicate the terrible news to our client whom he worked very closely with. It was a very difficult time with people streaming into my office crying and struggling over why someone would take his own life. Because we are such a close knit family, it affected all of us in some way. Thursday and Friday were spent talking and remembering him in the most positive ways possible and today we have a memorial for him. Working at a creative agency means that we will have many unique and creative ways of saying our goodbyes.

Jody normally being out of town for a week would mean a lot of free time for me at night and lots of workouts, etc. I spent most of my nights squeezing in a quick workout and then working because I wasn't getting much done during the day with a lot of people needing to talk. But I did get in some workouts and overall my energy level is ok. I am not sleeping well at night just trying to get comfortable and the baby is obviously getting bigger making moving around not as easy. I am loving the Supreme 90 workouts - despite the crappy music, bad cueing it is a fast paced, fun workout that is more the speed I enjoy.

I will hop on and do a full recap Sunday or Monday but wanted to leave you with this parting thought:

Be grateful. For all that you have and the people in your life. Be thankful every day that you are able to do all the things you can do. That you have food, water, electricity, loved ones and the gift of life. While the tragedies I experienced this week were sad, the people of Japan are dealing with much more significant challenges. They are dealing with it all with grace, respect for each other and humility. Our lives can change in an instant and I want my daughter to always know I love her and will be here for her no matter what she is going through. I won't be a perfect parent but I will do everything I can do let her know she is loved.

Love you guys.
Jess