"Life is short"

Life is short.  Lately it seems that's an understatement.  I am now of the age where people around me are starting to lose their parents.  Sometimes a parent loses a child.  And yesterday a dear classmate lost his brother who graduated just a year behind us. He was full of life and had a smile that could light up heaven. Death is a part of life.  We all know that none of us will get out of here alive. But when there is a sudden loss as in the case of my classmate, it weighs heavily on me and makes me take stock in whether I'm truly living each day as fully as I can.  Some days are filled with wild adventures but others are just filled with hours of TV.  There are days when I'm just plain tired.  Can it be said on those days I'm fully living?  What about the days when my girls want to do something fun and I say no because there is laundry and housework to be done.  If I said yes all the time we'd be naked and covered in cobwebs, right?  Where is the balance? 

My life has been filled with many adventures.  I haven't climbed any mountains but I've gotten married at the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus.  I haven't swum with sharks but I've partied with Cybill Shepherd.  I've snuggled with Bill Cosby, been to the top of the Empire State Building, seen almost everyone I'd want to see in concert, been to Mardi Gras twice, Jazz Fest once and I'm about to attend CMA Music Fest for the second time.  I've never been to Europe but I got engaged in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  I may never see Australia but I've been to 30 something of the 50 states, including Hawaii.  I haven't met a Kennedy but I've performed at Kennedy Center (with my high school choir but hey...).   I've never met Harry Connick Jr. but I've hugged his dad.  I've planned two very successful high school reunions and I'm in touch with most of my class albeit via Facebook.  Elvis died before I was old enough to meet him but I've been to Graceland at least four times and love to attend the Candlelight Vigil every year my schedule permits. 

I've been deeply loved and have had my heart broken more than once.  I have friends I've known since I was a toddler and made a new friend last week.  My family is close and I talk to my mom and siblings often.  I know that isn't the case with a lot of families.  I have a husband whom I adore and I'm pretty sure he likes me most days.  I have two beautiful daughters who drive me crazy and make me proud all in the same heartbeat.  I have a job that I truly love and have only had two jobs in my entire career that I didn't feel that way about. 

I'll be 42 in two weeks.  I've done a lot in 42 years and as I sit here and think about it all, I'd say I've lived quite a full life... full of laughter, full of friendship, full of adventure and spontaneity, and most of all full of love.  We don't know what tomorrow will bring but I hope in 42 more years I can write another blog post or whatever is in fashion then and reflect on how much more I've experienced. 

Life is short.  Make the most of it that you can, even when there is laundry to be done.  Make room for the mundane but also don't miss out on the magical.  Try new foods because taste buds change (something my 8 year old continually reminds me).  Go see a movie you haven't even seen a preview of - surprise yourself.  When you see a familiar face, figure out where you know them from and go say hello.  Its how I met my husband... we talked three separate times, each a month apart, before exchanging names.  If something breaks, repair it if you can but don't put too much energy into it.  Stuff is stuff.  Relationships are the things you should spend time dusting off, repairing if needed, and cherishing continually.  When you are in a moment, "Make a Memory".  Its something my mom taught me and I hope I'm passing on to my girls.  Life is short but its also full.  Listen to the rain, look for the rainbow.  Smile at strangers. Be who you are and not who you think you should be.  Its very freeing.  We all have so much to offer this world and we need to learn to appreciate our differences more instead of judging and trying to change each other.  I'm not a huge John Mayer fan but he's right - say what you need to say.

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

This is a confession of a Circus Bride. Yes, I got married in a three ring ceremony. I entered an essay contest on Why I Wanted my Wedding to be the Greatest Show on Earth and to my amazement, I won! In 1991, my former husband and I got married right before a performance at the Mid South Coliseum. He and his best man rode in on elephants and I had a horse drawn carriage. We had 15 clowns and 15 showgirls as our attendants. We had 50 free circus tickets so all of our family and friends could attend. In all there were 3000 people who stood up when the bride (that’s me) rode by. My dad kept telling me to wave and live it up. I felt like true royalty. Little did I know the marriage would be more of a circus than the ceremony was. Oh, and for the record, we were the second non-circus couple to be married under the Big Top. I wish I could show you the video… or the news footage. Yes, we made all three major networks (local newscasts of course).

My parents had married 29 years before to the day. I wore my mom’s dress just as she did… 1963 coture (sp?) flannel lined silk on a 100 degree day. Even if I was hot, I still felt like a princess. And it fit like a glove! After the ceremony was over we got to perform our first act as a married couple – blowing the official circus whistles that started the show, a duty usually left to the Ringmaster. We were seated in the front row and doted on by circus performers for the next three hours. Clowns sat on my lap, showgirls came up and hugged us and a snowcone guy gave us two large red snowcones free of charge (red snowcones are not good for white wedding dresses).

The clowns were my favorite part. They hammed it up just like they are supposed to. When I was walking to the carriage I had to walk past Clown Alley and one of the clowns had his head poking out of the curtain. He saw me coming and yelled “here she comes!” and all the clowns jumped out to great me as one of them strummed Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman on the guitar. To this day that is still my most vivid memory. The clowns, the showgirls, the elephants…. that’s one way to get your 15 minutes of fame.