Life is Easy, Right?

Last year at this time I didn’t know my niece would be dead in a few days (August 16th). But that’s what happened. Her depression was bad. Really bad. She hated being a live. At this time last year I also didn’t know my wife would be pregnant right now—due Tuesday, in fact. As I sit here on 8/13/2020 I feel like I’m at an emotional airport right now watching flights leaving at the same time heading in opposite directions. I think about Lillia. I think about our daughter. The one who left and how much I miss her. And the one who is coming and how much I love her.

That’s life.

It can pile happiness onto you like you’re a big plate at a joy buffet. And life can, and will, break you down into little tiny bits. Nobody is immune. But some people make blanket assumptions: all this is, and should be, easy.

A guy I used to know, Mike, once told me that life isn’t that hard if you’re respectful and work hard. For some people, he’s absolutely right. Life isn’t that hard. For many individuals, conscious existence (from the age of say, five ’til whenever death comes) is a collection of choices and if enough good choices presented, and then made, positive results should follow. But that’s not true for everyone and the older I’ve gotten, I realized the simplicity of this thinking is blind to reality.

Go ahead, tell a homeless person or somebody with terrible depression to figure it out. You should’ve tried harder in school and made better friends. But hey. It’s not too late. Just, get yourself together, get a…