To A Mom Dying Young

Warning:  This is not the typical post found on this blog, but something I had to share with my friend and colleagues.

Yesterday was a beautifully sunny 70-degree day here in CT.  I finished my pressing projects and decided to leave work early.  I reclined in a lounge chair in my yard to listen to some new music.  Those of you who know me well, know this is a rare occurrence.  While I did manage some relaxation, I couldn’t keep my mind off all the things that had to be done.  At one point I jumped up, ran to my home office, and jotted down some headlines for our agency’s new website overhaul. Hey this is the reason my business has survived for 12 years and the vast majority of startups close in less than 2 years, right? Totally justified guilt.

Later that evening I was in my Facebook account (probably for something related to client work as I’m hardly ever on Facebook) and I came across tons of photos of a friend I had not seen in a while.  Photos when she was a kid, photos from the 80s, photos with her girls, recent photos.  They were all attached to memorials.

She had died of a sudden out-of-the-blue heart attack at 43.

So today my friend I am leaving work early.  I’m going to plant lilies to remember you my fellow gardener.  Then I’m going to sit in my lounge chair with a big glass of red wine in your honor (red, never white).

And I’m not going to feel at all guilty about it.

Author: +Chris Slocumb