Fleeting

The other day as I was carrying in groceries, I noticed that one of my little succulent plants had bloomed. I've never tried growing succulents before beyond aloe or hen & chicks, but I've been enjoying this planter of unusual-looking plants. The one that bloomed had bright, hot-pink flowers at the end of each stem. I showed it to Larry and thought I'd go back out to take a photo of it. But I got busy putting away groceries and forgot about it. By the next day, the flowers were gone.

This morning as I drank my tea on the porch, the sun shone through a drop of rainwater dangling from a branch of our redbud tree. It prismed beautifully, from red to blue and green and brilliant silver. It made me smile watching the play of light and color. Within minutes it was gone, just a memory of fleeting beauty.

Today I have read posts from friends who lost a parent overnight; who salute the memory of a lost relative on their birthday; a poem by a friend's daughter who lost her baby when nine months pregnant; a friend's story of a miscarriage many years ago and how healing came recently with a trip to a lake;  an account, terrible and touching of the history of Warsaw Poland by a young friend traveling there; distant cousins' adventures traveling in France; another cousin's rafting trip on the Colorado River and a musician's trip across country on the Cailfornia Zephyr; tens of pictures of children and young adults first day of school.

Stories, memories, joy, sorrow, excitement and more pour from my computer as I follow the lives of friends and family scattered around the world. I do my best to keep up, to send prayers, congratulations and condolences. And through it all I am struck by the speed of life on this whirling, tilting globe. Like that tiny drop of rain on the redbud tree, it shines...and then the moment is gone, the world moves on.

But I cling to the pictures in my mind, the touches on my heart, doing my best to see the connectedness of it all. I feel blessed to be included in so many lives, even at the minor level of a Facebook or blog post. I am humbled by those tiny bright flowers on my cactus that shared their beauty, if only for a moment, with my eyes.

It's all fleeting, every moment passing is one less we have to savor. Thank you all for coming here to read, and for being sharing your life with me.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.