June 26, 2008

Reminders of what’s really important

Posted in Musings tagged , , at 8:24 am by myrlinn

This morning, I was doing my usual check of Clay news, and came across this:

HARGEISA, Somalia (Reuters Life!) – Clay Aiken appealed on Wednesday for the world not to forget Somalia, where conflict and hunger have created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

For 12-year-old, Ubah Mohamed, her wants were simpler.”I understand he is famous. I hope he will give us food and build a school for us,” she said, near to a refugee camp.

Source: Clay Aiken appeals for world attention on Somalia, Wed June 25, 2008

And then I read this story on my friend tribeca’s blog:

My mom’s good friend Lynda was an only child who always wanted a family.  Lynda was a true friend to my mom.  Lynda was very outspoken.  When someone in our neighborhood called her fat she told them “i can go on a diet your attitude will always be lousy”.   My dad who isn’t a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve (ever) told Lynda at one of our holiday parties ” you are now our sister”.  All of Aunts considered her part of the family.  In all the family pictures of the “sisters’ Lynda is in them.  It was a very sad day when Lynda was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Lynda was always a fighter so she was not gonna to go easy.  Her treatment made her lose all her hair and she lost a lot of weight.  My mom helped Lynda pick out a wig and took her to an expensive restaurant that day ( they figured that should live it up. Why not?).  When at that restaurant the ladies from the neighborhood came up to Lynda and told her how great she looked and asked what was doing to look so great.  Lynda said I’m dying.  Nobody said anything.  At Lynda’s funeral the priest said that when she was a child she was so lonely being an only child and her goal in life was to find a family.  She said she died accomplishing her goal.  That was truly beautiful to me.

Link: Tribeca’s Blog

Really puts out own lives into perspective, doesn’t it?