$29 IKEA Desk + Funeral = ?

Marianne @ Their Words. My Musings. 24 Comments

The desire to start writing again.  Finally.

My last post was in September.  Going on 6 months now.  Where have I been?  Mostly here in Guelph, Ontario.  Where have I not been?  In any mood whatsoever to write.  Not on this blog or on my book or on anything for that matter other than trivial emails, text messages, and notes to my kids on our family’s communication central (read: a dry-erase white board in the kitchen).  It’s been so long I can barely find my way around WordPress anymore haha.  Maybe I should sign up for another go at Blogging 101.  Note to file.

What changed?

Two visits to Burlington this week, about 45 mins away, a city I lived in for 10 years before moving to Guelph in 2008.  One to spend some income tax refund money at IKEA, including the desk I am writing this post at.  The other to attend the funeral of a friend who died last week from pancreatic cancer.

Although certainly not intentional, those two trips had something in common.  They allowed me to find things I needed to jumpstart my writing back into action.  A desk for my bedroom so I can have a place to write away from the goings-on of the rest of the house.  And a reminder of, as the youngin’s these days say, YOLO – you only live once.

I wasn’t sure how to get back into blogging.  What the heck would I write about after all this time?  Should I just abandon the old site and start fresh with a new one?  Would I still have followers?  Would I even remember my password?  The answers to questions 2, 3, and 4 are no, yes, and yes.  The answer to the first came with much thanks to The Daily Post’s “Daily Prompt“.  Today’s prompt is quite simply the word legacy.

A definition of the word legacy on the Merriam-Webster website is:   something that is received from someone who has died.

My friend who passed left me a legacy.  Sorry to sound cliché but she lived life to the fullest.  She pursued her dreams and encouraged her family & friends to do the same.  She ran her first half-marathon at the age of 52.  Not bad for an ole gal.  She knew she only had once shot at this thing called life and wanted to make the most of it.  More than that, she wanted to show her gratitude for having a life to begin with.  For me at least, she immortalized one of my favourite quotes ever …

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

John F. Kennedy

I can only hope that these words I have written today somehow express even the tiniest bit of gratitude I have for my life and the life of my friend.  Soar away to be with our Creator my dear friend.  Every time I see a butterfly, I will think of you and say a prayer of thanks.

 

Image source:   geralt user on Pixabay.com, CC0 Public Domain

Listen to music. It could save your soul. Be kind. It could save someone’s world. Wear a hat. It could save your life.

 

24 thoughts on “$29 IKEA Desk + Funeral = ?”

  2. Dear Mary Anne,
    It’s so nice to hear from you. I wondered how you are or whether we’ll hear from you. You did the best thing by starting to write again. We know what we are supposed to do and what not to do. We still take a chance and pray we will be all right. Many many good wishes to you, also keep in touch we miss you and love reading your posts. All my best wishes to you.Stay well and keep smiling. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. So good you have begun writing once more., Yes, a desk–anywhere–is a bonus that helps, our own small but fruitful territory. I long ago raised five kids so know how it is to scrape together time to write. Keep writing–whatever you like! And i am sorry for your loss, though you seem to have her in your heart. Best regards.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I felt exactly the same about not writing, and then writing again. Should I start where I left off? Would anything be the same? Also, the part about the two trips not being intentional, but ending up unexpectedly related was oddly familiar; I can relate to it. Your friend sounds like she was amazing, by the way. And that hat…still tickles me, hahaha.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Hey Marianne. I am happy beyond measure to see you posting again. Back in the Blogging 101 days, I was drawn in by your kind and meaningful comments to other new bloggers who tentatively submitted their work. Maybe your gentleness and helpfulness with them was (at least in some small measure) related to your personal perfectionism. Could be. I don’t know. But I do know that I appreciated your genuine kindness and willingness to help others who posted in the Commons. My blog, being a nature photoblog, is very different from yours, but I have kept you in my WP Reader in hopes that you would reappear. Now that you have, I just want to say welcome back. Please keep posting, and I will carry on following you! -Trailwalker (formerly Skip aka Carolyn).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment