Summers End
I have been struggling the last week to articulate my feelings, you see in the midst of the fun and laughter that the summer brings there has been incredible sadness. Two inspirational women have lost their fight against illness.
The first Mirabel was someone who I have followed in the blog world then on Instagram for around five years. An illness caused kidney disease, her transplant failed but through it all she never lost hope and continued to campaign for awareness regarding organ donation to help other.
I never saw a photo of her in which she was not smiling even as she shared her darkest days.
She leaves behind her a husband, sons and extended family who watched her fight for 13 years before losing her battle.
The second loss hit even harder as it was closer to home. My dear freind and felow author Lavinia Urban lost her battle to cancer last week. in our book community many tears were shed for this amazing lady.
Many question how well you can know someone when you only met them in person a few times but that is more a reflection on their own character, yes, while there may be many who edit their lives for public consumption, Lavinia was not one of those.
She shared her heart and soul, she laid bare her pain, anger, but mostly her positivity and her determination to not be beaten by this disease which sadly took her away from her husband, children, friends and readers from all over the world. I am sure the day she passed the hashtag #fuckcancer must have trended as out pourings came from authors and readers across the globe.
So as I sit here now the tears have dried a little, what do I take from having been lucky enough to have known these two exceptional women, I take strength. I take the strength to know that although we cannot fight what life may throw at us we can choose to wallow in self pity or we can pick ourselves up and fight. We can lie down and wait for defeat or we can make every moment count.
The main thing we should take though it to make time to spend with those we love, set aside time to unplug and simply be presesnt in the moment. I know I a guilty of letting time fly by, we used to always sit down together as a family on a Sunday afternoon and then play a board game, tv and phones turned off, lately this has slipped away but I am determined from this Sunday it will resume. Tell the ones you care about you love them, pull your children closer for a hug and remember those who have left us with a smile.
#loss #grief #inspirationalwomen #LaviniaUrban #Mirabelskidneystory #family #love #positivity