Tuesday was not a happy day for me. One of my good friends from my professional/executive days at Cartier International and luckily my life as a wife and a mom, passed away from a long battle with breast cancer. I call this terrible disease an epidemic because by now I know way too many women that have been affected by it. I don't want to give this horrible condition much more energy, but I do want to honor my friend Karla Camacho Borges for her courage.
I will definitely honor you by always remembering you. It is impossible to forget you. What an example and what a fighter she was! Always in a great mood and always staying positive.
What lesson can I learn from her passing? I must always cherish every moment and work on letting go of the insignificant stuff in my life...so this evening I was able to let go of my typical sergeant demeanor with my children's nighttime schedule and for the first time in my life, I climbed in the crib with my two year old.
I was able to let go of my inflexible rules as a parent to honor the lack of her existence in this plane. I wanted my child to feel that physical presence that one day will not be around him. While I was inside that little crib, I could not stop remembering my friend and how much she loved her two little girls. In a magical and mysterious way she is there keeping them company and guiding them along the way. I truly believe that there is much more than a body of flesh and bones.
However, while I am still on playground Earth, my children will know that I am around and that I am here for them every moment of the day, my husband will know that I am here to support him and to be his loving partner for life. My parents will know that I am eternally grateful for their lessons; my sister will know that we will be together forever sipping coffee or tea on the banks of the Seine River in Paris and my friends must know that I am here for absolutely anything they need.
Can we make a loving, honest and flexible commitment to the people we love to let go of the bitching and insignificant stuff and concentrate on the things that really matter? If there is one real rule in life it should be based on the idea of living our lives with love. Love is like a good virus and the more we give of it, the more we bless others.
After all, when we leave this plane and pass on to that magical and mysterious world, this is the only feeling we can leave to make our loved ones feel good and remember us with a smile on their face.
I will miss you Karla, but you will always be a part of me especially on those nights I will relax and climb into my child's crib.
