This Too Shall Pass

When we moved from the East to the West Coast of the US, I wasn’t aware that they have 5 (not 4) seasons: summer, fall, kinda winter (in the mountains), spring and fire. I live close to the ocean in Southern California which sounds pretty ideal and it is. Blue skies, oceans, sand and some really beautiful people.

Yet not far away the canyons and hillsides are covered with dried mustard grass. Hillsides are dried out and dusty. And right now California is burning with three major fires. We live close to the Trabucco Fire (now called the Airport Fire). As you are reading this people are being evacuated from their homes and their lives are being turned upside down. I’m thinking too of the firefighters who are wearing heavy fire-retardant clothing in the heat wave of 100+ degrees that has lasted over our past week. I’m thinking of all the families whose circumstances have been upended.

Life changes in a moment.

When I married, a friend got a wedding band with the engraving that said “This Too Shall Pass.” When things are going good, “This Too Shall Pass”, and when things aren’t, “This Too Shall Pass”.

Things are always changing.

Today is the anniversary of September 11th. At that time, we lived in NJ near the overlook of the World Trade Center. That frightening time has seemingly passed.

My mom’s journey with Alzheimer’s lasted 10 years. It was a really long time. But it passed. Initially I thought only of the many bad parts; of how she had changed, of the stresses of caregiving, but that passed. Now I remember her, her sense of humor and her sense of style.

Moral: Savor the moment, both good and bad. For this too will pass.