Balance

   A couple of weeks ago, I passed a rose bush.  It still had the remnants of a rose on it.  A jolt ran through me as I realized that summer was gone.  Sure, I'd done the summer things: the garden, the mowing, the sweating. But I hadn't stopped to smell the roses.  I'd  'busied' through another season.
  That was the great thing about Emily.  She saw the world through simple eyes.  My priorities are upside down in comparison to hers.  The "here and now" was what was important to Emily.  I spend my days getting things ready for the "what's next" and the "just in case" and I miss the present. I rationalize that someone's got to take care of business.
    Emily put the balance in my life. How I miss that girl.

Under a parachute with new friends

at a Girl Scout activity.

At the mall where Emily's class  signed songs

in American Sign Language. (Her primary language)