Margaret

Just over a year ago a very dear friend of mine died from cancer. She had put up a good fight, went into remission, but the second time around was too overwhelming. Margaret was also an artist. And quite a shopper!

Soon after we met at a painting class Margaret and I started to bond. We had a lot in common, even though there was about a 12 year age difference between us. We took many day trips together, went to a memorable watercolor workshop, and we could talk for hours. Even when she was feeling so bad and focusing on her illness, I could usually get her to laugh at something stupid I had done and, I think, pick up her spirits for a while. I miss her every day.

Her husband and daughter asked me to come over to go through her painting supplies and I am now heir to some paint and paper and various and sundry other items. It was very emotional for me to be there, in her painting room, seeing and touching her things. But, at the same time, I had to laugh in my tears. She always told me that she wasn’t about to clean up that room. Since she had to clean out her mother’s house when her mother had died, Margaret’s attitude was “let the kids do it!” Her daughter, Cindy, told me it took several hours each day over the course of a few days to go through everything.

So there we stood, among all this stuff, still sorting and carrying it out. When I got to my car I looked up and said, half crying, half laughing - “Well, Margaret, you always said let someone else clean it up, I just didn’t know it would be me!”

I have another wonderful friend, who I also met through painting (who says art is solitary!). Sometimes I think about our age difference – about the same as the one between myself and Margaret. So, someday my “studio” will need to be cleaned out. Since I like Margaret’s idea of letting someone else deal with the mess, and since my space is more than twice the size that Margaret’s space was, all I can say is, she’ll have her work cut out for her! (I just hope it’s a long, long time before that happens!)

God bless you, Margaret.

There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won’t anymore, and who always will. So don’t worry about people from your past, there’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future.

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.