(from l to r: Julie, Heidi, and me at Hallmark's graduation -- June 2011)
Yesterday I got a very sad phone call....I found out
one of my roommates from photography school passed away. Without going into it all, the details of her passing bring much sadness. I remember the very first email I got from Heidi and the very first time we talked on the phone. She was very simple, and didn't require much.
When I first arrived at school in August 2010, Heidi was away for a few days, then when she got back, I had left for a weekend trip. So by the time we met each other, it was only a few days before school was to begin. While she was gone, my other roommate - Julie - and I had gone through the (then gross) kitchen and did major cleaning. We noticed some pots and pans that weren't ours and decided to throw them out. While I was on my weekend trip, Heidi called to ask where her pots/pans were....here we had thrown them out with a few other things we thought were 'junk'. Great way to start off with a roommate you've not yet met. Fail.
I'd realize throughout the year that Heidi liked to live in peace. She was easy-going and often I'd come home to the smells of delicious food she was cooking, frequently using garlic and doing up veggies. She wasn't very good on the computer - well, with technology in general - so I helped out a lot with teaching her simple things. She liked to be in nature and while her photography was very different than mine (style-wise), I came to appreciate her unique approach to life and photography. And although we saw much of life through different lenses (both literal and figurative), I grew to love Heidi and celebrated the differences between us.
We have kept up since graduation. I tracked her move to Oregon a number of months ago, and watched her new photography take on a fresh liveliness. It's difficult to process (as is with any death) that we won't ever speak again, but I'm thankful for the time we had to share as roommates. I marvel in the people that are brought into my life - if even for a short season - and I'm
grateful to have met Heidi.
This morning a friend sent a video to me - to lighten my mood. I ended up liking the video so much, I clicked to see if the creator had other videos. Sure enough, there are many. And randomly I clicked on another video entitled
Gratitude, done by the incredibly gifted
Louie Schwartzberg. I thought it would be soothing music with awesome video footage. But around minute 1:05, narration begins...Brother David Steindl-Rast (complete with an accent) begins to talk about this day - today - that we are given. And I found it so powerful that I wrote out the text of what he narrates.
Here is what he says:
You think this is just another day in your life?
It’s not just another day.
It’s the one day that is given to you – today.
It’s given to you; it’s a gift.
It’s the only gift that you have right now.
And the only appropriate response is gratefulness.
If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response
through the great gift this unique day is;
If you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your
life, and the very last day,
then you will have spent this day very well.
Begin by opening your eyes, and be surprised that you have
eyes you can open.
The incredible array of colors that is constantly offered to
us – for pure enjoyment.
Look at the sky; we so rarely look at the sky.
We so rarely note how different it is from moment to moment…with
the clouds coming and going.
We just think of the weather; even with the weather, we don’t
think of all the many nuances of weather.
We just think of good weather and bad weather.
This day right now…its unique weather may be a kind that will
never – exactly in that form – come again.
The formation of clouds in the sky will never be the same as
it is right now.
Open your eyes; look at that.
Look at the faces of the people we meet.
Each one has an incredible story behind their face – a story
you couldn't fully fathom.
Not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors;
they all go back so far.
And in this present moment, on this day, all the people you
meet, all that life of generations and from so many places all over the world….
Flows together and meets you here, like a life-giving water,
if you only open your heart and drink.
Open your heart to the incredible gifts that civilization gives
to us – we flip a switch and there is electric light.
You turn a faucet and there is warm water and cold water…and
drinkable water.
It’s a gift that millions and millions in the world will never
experience.
So these are just a few of an enormous number of gifts, to
which we can open our hearts.
So I wish that you would open your heart to all these blessings,
and let them flow through you.
That everyone you will meet on this this day, will be
blessed by you – just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your
presence.
Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you.
Then it will really be a good day.
(Brother David Steindl-Rast)
So while I am extremely grateful for today - THIS day - I am also grateful for the many 'todays' that I got with Heidi....and I will continue to pray for her family in this incredibly difficult time.
