Dedicated with love to my friend J.

A headache.  A simple, nagging pain in the ass headache.  We all get them.  We have all felt the pounding. The throbbing. The dull ache.

This headache, a suspected migraine, took her to urgent care.  She was seeking relief.  As the days went on, the relief was nowhere to be found.  The medications were ineffective.  She was having trouble getting through her days.

She found herself in the ER.  Surely those doctors could give her meds to rid her of this migraine.  Hour after hour went by.  Test after test was administered.  There were no medications to help her.   Only the results showing a mass.  A foreign body in her brain.  An intruder.  Something that didn’t belong.  Something that was there to harm her.  And it needed to come out now!

One day she was going through the motions of life, as we all do, and the next she was scheduled for brain surgery.  Wondering if she had cancer.  Worrying about her kids.  Wondering if she would survive the surgery. Wondering if the surgery would leave her the same woman.  Wondering how she got here.

Everything changed in an instant.  Her life.  Her husband’s life.  Her children’s lives. Her family and friend’s lives.  All forever transformed because of a headache.

The surgery was mostly successful.  She survived the hours and hours of detailed and careful removal of the tumor’s tentacles from the recesses of her brain.  She is a fighter after all.  She walked. She talked. She emerged from the surgery her beautiful, kind self.

She survived the surgery but the nightmare continues.  The diagnosis is one that no one wants to hear.  So now she fights! She fights for her life!  With her faith, her will and the support of her loved ones she will conquer this enemy!

As I think about beautiful J, I am struck by the irony.  I have been procrastinating publishing  this new blog that has been in my heart and mind for months. My fear kept it hidden.  The irony is that this blog, OneSaltyKiss, is focused on finding simple ways to live life to the fullest. On remembering that life is finite.  It’s about discovering our passions and following our dreams.  We don’t know how many days we have so we need to make them excellent.  Each one!

The lesson J has taught me is that we can’t wait any longer.  The time to bring joy into our lives is now. Time is fleeting. We can’t put things off until tomorrow because we don’t know what tomorrow brings. [Tweet “The time to bring joy into our lives is now. Time is fleeting. We can’t put things off until tomorrow because we don’t know what tomorrow brings.”]

So I am putting aside my trepidation and setting my new passion free.

And I owe it all to J! xoxo girl

Salty Kisses!

Karen