Posted on by barbaramonier

Any Tuesday

Accustomed to waking up between 6:30 and 7:00 am, I was in a profoundly deep slumber when my dog Scout whimpered quietly at my bedside around 6:00, letting me know that she could not wait any longer to go out.   I was also deep into a dream, a dream of such intense aching feeling that fully awake and caffeinated as I have been for two and a half hours now, a veil of sad wistfulness remains heavily between me and a rain-drenched, beautiful morning.

Last night, a friend told me that she feels the bottom has been hacked off the hour glass of her life, and that her remaining time is hemorrhaging out, giving her an ever-increasing sense of urgency that she must do everything in her power to ensure that those she most loves in the world will be safe, and loved, after she is gone.

Ah, if only this were possible.

I watched her sob as she recognized that we can love powerfully, ferociously even, but in no way is this a guarantee of anything at all, except that we have done our very best — lived, and loved our very best.

 And that must be enough.

4 Replies to “Any Tuesday”

    1. barbaramonier – Barbara Monier has been writing since the earliest days when she composed in crayon on paper with extremely wide lines. She studied writing at Yale University and the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, she received the Avery and Jule Hopwood Prize. It was the highest prize awarded that year, and the first in Michigan's history for a piece written directly for the screen. She has four published novels: YOU, IN YOUR GREEN SHIRT and A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME, and with Amika Press, PUSHING THE RIVER and THE ROCKY ORCHARD. Her fifth novel, THE READING, will release in October 2022.
      barbaramonier says:

      Nope. Downloaded from flickr! And it’s actually some exotic location, maybe Thailand!

      Reply
  2. Jan Stone – That toddlin\' town – I'm an essayist, blogger and recovering PR executive who is a master in resilience. I've endured a brain aneurysm, loss of loved ones and a head-on collision—and lived to tell the tales. My writing has appeared at venues including More magazine and The Chicago Tribune. I blog at Elect2Care & JanStoneWritesOn and was an invited blogger at a national conference on women’s economic and political issues. A recipient of multiple residencies from the Ragdale Foundation, most recently I was working through a selective two-year certificate program in the non-fiction genre at the University of Chicago’s Writer’s Studio. I'm also an alumnus​ of The Op-Ed Project, an innovative national program that scouts and trains women and other under-represented experts to submit works of thought leadership to media gatekeepers across all platforms. My essays explore the threads linking trauma and fear to empathy and resilience. My op-eds examine how a culture of courage, connection, compassion and communication has been supplanted by one of entitlement, intolerance and inequity. In a previous life, I've worked at some of the world’s top advertising and public relations agencies including Leo Burnett, Edelman, ComBlu and Bozell Worldwide, where I mastered the art of helping clients strategically achieve their objectives while managing the crises inherent in an imperfect world. I earned corporate cred as Manager of Marketing & Communications at Bell + Howell. I live on the beach in Chicago, where I anxiously await watching the Chicago Cubs win.
    janswrite says:

    What a wonderful reminder, articulated so well. Thank you. I needed to hear what you had to say. Your words made a difference for one person today, and I hope that makes you feel as good as it does me when that rare opportunity occurs.

    Reply
  3. barbaramonier – Barbara Monier has been writing since the earliest days when she composed in crayon on paper with extremely wide lines. She studied writing at Yale University and the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, she received the Avery and Jule Hopwood Prize. It was the highest prize awarded that year, and the first in Michigan's history for a piece written directly for the screen. She has four published novels: YOU, IN YOUR GREEN SHIRT and A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME, and with Amika Press, PUSHING THE RIVER and THE ROCKY ORCHARD. Her fifth novel, THE READING, will release in October 2022.
    Barbara Monier says:

    Thanks SO much. Yes, your comment, and the fact that this piece meant something to you, truly made my day.

    Reply

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