Birth, Death, & Little Projects

On 9:20pm, Tuesday, May 9th, 2006, my baby niece Kira was born.  I came over the next day to see her and her brother, my nephew, who was thrilled to have her join the family – "Baby sister!" he would say as he poked her in the face with freshly cleaned hands (he’s almost 2 years old, but a bright one).

I woke up at 12:45pm today from a nightmare.  I wrote it down, checked my voice mails and had a job offer.  After checking my messages, my phone rang – my ex, who is now one of my best friends.  I answered, and she seemed a bit off.

"What’s going on?" I asked, fully knowing something was up.

"Leshawn’s dead."  I started crying.  I didn’t know him, but I knew how much he meant to her.  He took care of her when she was depressed, helped her out when her friends committed suicide, and made her laugh again.  He drove drunk, last night for the last time.  She says because of him she doesn’t want to kill herself anymore.

When I got off the phone I went in the living room and remembered it was my roommate/best friend’s birthday and gave her $40.  A while later I got a call and the job offer was revoked.

I’ve been working on little projects.  I painted on Monday and Tuesday – I have a little painting in my room now, one of those "feelings" ones, done in red and black with gold accents.  Last night I wrote a piece to be read as spoken word, and I’m really pleased with it.  I also wrote out a basic financial strategy for the next few weeks.

This is life.  And I’m living it right now.