This time of year my friends and colleagues are usually incredibly festive, but 2020 has been quite a year. Rather than the usual joys and holiday cheer, a lot of people in my life are saying something to the effect of, “I’m not really in the holiday spirit this year” or, “It’s taken a lot for me to put up this tree…” or some version of that. I get it. In 2018, leading up to my wedding my brother had a severe brain aneurysm that rendered him brain dead. With his funeral scheduled two days before our wedding date there were rumblings of, “Is the wedding still on?” Raul left the decision completely up to me. I sat with it for a bit.
One day, Suzanne (my mentor at work) and I were talking. The conversation started to come to a close and before it did she checked in with me about my brother. Somewhere in my response, I said, “his funeral is on Friday and the wedding’s on Sunday” and before I could think to myself, “did I just decide that we’re moving forward with the wedding?” She said, “I’m glad to hear you’re moving forward with the wedding.” I paused and listened closely.
“Ruben, I’ve lived a very long life. In life, we will all experience more than our fair share of tragedies. They will hit us unexpectedly, in the most inopportune times, and more often than we can possibly care for. Whenever you get a moment to celebrate the joys and loves of life, take it. You never know…
