Carpe Diem

It’s been a sobering week. Early in the week my Mom told me that Marge Winslow had died. It wasn’t a huge surprise because she was a 103, but I had also somehow expected her to live forever. She was so vivacious and spirited, and in many ways seemed like the heart of the island. In the past few years nearly all of the “old people,” I remember from growing up have died. They are the people who lived on Southport their whole lives and fought to make a living there. They cared about the community. And as they’ve passed, they’ve been replaced by more summer people, who tear down the cute cottages and put up mansions and come for 4 months a year and then disappear. The times they are a- changing.

Yesterday I went to the funeral for my friend and former co-worker. It’s always sad when someone so young dies, but it was particularly sad in this case because after a tough life he was finally at a point in his life where he’d found some happiness. And as horrible as funerals are, I was so happy I went. It was like going home to my own family and I felt so wrapped in their love and comforted. I worked on the boat and on Cabbage Island with these people from when I was 14 until I was 22, and so that place and those people left an indelible mark on who I am. You can dress me up and put me in a fancy place, but in my soul I will always be wearing an old Cabbage Island t-shirt, tattered shorts, and flip-flops and be lounging on the deck of the Argo before the passengers come aboard.

And then today when I landed in Newark for my connection, I had a message from one of my best friends from high school that her mother passed away last night. This is the first friend my age who has lost a mother and it’s shaken me to the core. First, I feel so helpless because I am so far away. And secondly, it makes me think about how important my own mother is to me. She’s my best friend, my source of comfort and wisdom, and pretty darn important to me.

So remember life is short. Keep your friends and family close, and appreciate them, because they are what makes your time here worth living.