A little story for you this morning, before we jump in the car and whiz to the beach to celebrate our son turning 20!
Over the years I’ve come to know my cousin-by- marriage, Adele. Her beautiful bracelet is in this photo, above. She’s game for adventure and upbeat, spontaneous, fun and she laughs all the time. She’s also smart as a whip.
And her life looks charmed from the outside — as does mine, and maybe yours does, too. And really if we have clean water and fresh air, we are all privileged and blessed.
But there are things, right?
The things we don’t share.
Because here’s the truth: nobody rides for free.
Nobody. Whether we are healthy, with job security and loads of dough or alone and unwell with a bad diagnosis…we’re all in this same boat.
Life.
Nobody rides for free (even if it looks like we do).
I wrote it on a sticky note to remind myself that we are ALL in this together, and no matter where we’re at, there are mountains to climb. Rejection, sadness, worries, relationships that aren’t close or are close-to-broken, health scares, loss of a beautiful activity we loved, fear.
But this is true, too: we can always choose to listen to each other, and give what we have to give: our time, our love, our resources, our gluten-free chocolate brownies…
Let’s do this, my friends — let’s be here for each other on this wild and beautiful ride.
Let’s assume zero about each other. Let’s remember, nobody rides for free.
Love Catherine x
PS.
Thank you, Adele, for gifting me this beautiful faux pearl bracelet (above). She literally TOOK IT OFF HER ARM and handed it to me when I admired it. I’m trying to be a person like that!
And our eldest son at 1 and 3. Now he’s a man and so like his Dad. Love that look on my husband’s face…and me, at 34. I feel smarter but also somehow just the same….
