On The Unexpected Pleasantries Of Life...

I'm a firm believer that life is just, well... life. I refuse to use the saying "full of ups and downs", because I believe that's too much of a simplistic interpretation. I, for one, always try to cherish the enjoyable moments, while both learning and growing from the tougher times.

As aforementioned in this organized chaos of a blog, I lost a good friend from swine flu, and instead of dwelling on what was lost (which I, admittedly, did do for a period of time), I also spent the recent days contemplating what was gained by my friend's life, and how my friend's life had positively impacted my own. It made me also ponder my own life. What exactly were my aspirations? How much progress had I made towards them? If I was to die tomorrow: what had I done, experienced and most importantly, accomplished?

Needless to say, the tough time of dealing with the loss of my friend, Jason, was turned into a partial self-realization, a recollection of past experiences, analysis of current situations and appreciation of my current life, as much as it is. Life is funny sometimes, though...

As it so happens, yesterday afternoon I received a call from my father saying that not only had one of my cousins moved to Orlando from the northeastern United States, but that he was coming down to visit (along with his brother and his girlfriend). I hadn't seen him in a couple years, and he hadn't been down to Florida in many years. I didn't exactly know what to expect, even though I'd always gotten along very well with him.

Having them over and the subsequent visit was like a breath of fresh air. We caught up with each others' lives over the past few years (mostly just filling in minor details here and there), sharing many memories, experiences and most definitely laughs (often at the expense of each other). It was in that visit that I realized (yet again) how important my family is in my life, and how it has shaped me as a person.

The past couple weeks have been memorable, to say the least. With the loss of my friend and the reconnection with a few of my family members, I have taken measure of what parts of my life have affected me, each in their own special way. I have reflected back on the memory of my friend, and even elder family members who have long since departed this earth, and what each of them has meant to my life.

I can only hope that readers of this blog have taken measure of such influences in their own lives, and especially that their family lives are even one-eighth as tremendous and fortunate as mine has been.