Opened up Facebook today to see that it is my cousin Mary Brown’s birthday today. Nothing really surprising, except that my dear cousin is no longer with us – she passed away last year. It was horrific, her passing – a sudden onslaught of cancer, lack of ability to stop its inexorable progress, the loss of a life force so filled with charm and love that I honestly felt the earth change shape. It broke my heart, and the hearts of her closer family and friends and associates and probably just the people she passed on the street and shared her smile with.

But she lives on on Facebook.

In a way, it’s a good thing. I like having her pop up from time to time on my family list, though I am somewhat glad she hasn’t sent updates – I like the suspense of not knowing and besides, I’m hoping that she is having too wonderful a time in the afterlife to think of us back here. I still regret not knowing her better, I regret not going to see her dad the weekend before he died, too. Seeing her still there on Facebook reminds me of the times when I focused on other things, rather than relationships, and how wrong I was to do that. I’m trying to make family and friends more of a priority, though my body, with its traitorous MS, is making that difficult.

I’m going to keep trying, though. Because Mary is there to remind me.

Love and all that to family and friends everywhere. I’ll be in touch…