I often marvel at what a wild, wonderful roller-coaster ride that life is.

  There are days like this...when my nephew gets an award for his outstanding performance in Band! He is behind his cousin, who is equally as excited! Heck, we were all excited!

   Then there are Toilet Tuesdays. Those are the days that all the bathrooms need cleaning. The not so pleasant stuff that needs taking care of. And might require tissue and ibuprofen. And a trip to the store cause we are out of toilet paper. And a return trip to the store cause we ran out of toilet bowl cleaner. And a trip back to the store since we ran out of tub cleaner. Then yet another trip because we ran out out ibuprofen and tissues and coffee. And I was struggling with a headache and a horrible cold. And the bathrooms were in desperate need of cleaning since we were having company the next day for my daughter's birthday.

   Quite frankly, I am glad we live close to civilization. If we didn't, the bathrooms might never get cleaned around here. Not to mention the fact that I am a terrible bear when I have a cold and a headache and no coffee. My daughter can tell you just running out of coffee is cause to sound an emergency.

   But because of the roller-coaster, I had sparkling clean bathrooms for the party. Hot food served on time and one happy kid. We had family and friends to surround us and share in our joy. Just as several days later they would share in our sorrow. Sorrow that was filled with tears, laughter, longing and, oddly enough, joy. Sometimes all at once.

   Because the day after my daughter's 11th birthday, my husband's mean old wife shooed him out (not unwillingly) into a blizzard to go visit his mom. They were supposed to go to church, but we both knew with conditions being what they were, that probably wasn't going to happen. Mom was pretty weak from meds and chemo. Still a visit would not be a bad thing. While he was visiting, his mean old wife groused and complained through a stopped up head about the snow blower being out of gas and shoveled the cold wet slop off the drive. She also named the snow blower Buzz. After a nice visit with his mom, handsome hero husband came home and rescued his wife - who could very easily been confused with grumpy cat. He even went to the store for more cold meds as we ran out. I gotta talk to our purchase management and stock supply group, we really need to do something about this reoccurring theme.

   That evening, his mom passed away. After 20 years of battling cancer, the cancer won.

Or maybe you could say it lost.

   Okay, I know, it sounds weird, but we are talking about a wonderful woman here. In her last conversation with me, she told me either way, she won. If she beat cancer, she had more time to spend with her 5 wonderful kids and 8 grandchildren. She could go on vacation with us over the summer (maybe Florida this year). When she got stronger she could visit with her friends. If she did not beat cancer, she got to be with her savior. She saw it as a win-win situation. 

 
   So we cried because we missed her and selfishly wanted her here with us. We laughed with family when we sorted through all the pictures (some were pretty goofy). We were amazed to find pages and pages of journals, but surprised that her bible was not all marked up and earmarked. She treated her bible better than we treat ours. We sorted through her clothes marked for donation. Who has 42 sweatshirts? And yes, her favorite color was red. And pink. With a little purple thrown in for good measure.

    There was this sweatshirt too - with all the grandkid's names listed under each animal patch.  There were so many patches, some of the kids were on the back. But there were more animal patches than kids. The ones with no names each had a heart. On the back of the sweatshirt near the bottom was this little TBA mark. Ummm. Okay, that makes me a little nervous. Great Grandchildren?

  That week, I read the scripture that she picked out for my RE class. During our last visit together, she helped me put together my class plan. I had a most attentive 4th grade class as they learned through her story what it means to be a disciple. To listen to others. To do for others. To give of yourself. Which was nice, since that was what the chapter was all about in our books. I don't believe in coincidence. Or random acts.

   The family held a Celebration of Life service at her church the next weekend. There was no body - she gave it to science. But she was present in a most powerful way.

Because she believed, I came to believe,
Because she was witness, I came to witness,
And so I say Au Revoir to a patient person with a quiet soul.
Our hearts hang heavy know years we will be separated,
Before we can be joined again, unbroken and whole once more.

What a powerful legacy.

   This week is my birthday. More celebrations, more reasons to laugh.

 I hope, like mom, I get what I want out of life. Great times with my family and friends, to be independent (or reasonably so) and not a burden to others. Then at the end of it all, to ride off in the sunset with my savior. I am so blessed I burst with the joy of my wonderful roller-coaster life and I cherish each moment of it.

I hope you do too.