Hug your friends and loved ones

Room with a view.  Dads hospital bed in Amsterdam.

In the last 2 weeks, my father has been very sick (and not sure if he'd make it), and 3 people I know have died...all young, all horrific circumstances.  Another friend's husband is going in for a surgery (one of dozens, now) and he's so down, and very worried and miserable.  My heart breaks for everyone, my mind reels from the experience with my dad.  I'm reminded how fleeting and delicate life really is, and could launch into a lecture about how we need to hug our loved ones and follow our heart.  But you know this. 

Right?

It's just hard.  These deaths aren't close family (two are actually former grooms I have photographed, one is the young daughter of friends that I have known since I was 23) but they make me so sad.  Each day, I wake up and remember what's happened.  And how much harder it is for the families that are immediately experiencing the loss.  I hope that the upcoming funerals aren't on a day that I have a wedding or other photo shoot, because I want to BE THERE.

My dad is better, but he's also stubborn about one very important thing that could actually make him feel better.  I need to find a way to get him to at least TRY it.  And if and when he does, I hope it does indeed make a difference, because right now his life is a mere sliver of what it used to be.  The quality is significantly reduced.  

And yet, at the same time, as I am on Facebook with many of my wedding clients, I also get to see photos of babies born.  New life.  I see new babies every week!

Such is the cycle of life. 

I'm just sad.  I know I'll feel better as time goes by, it's just...kinda heavy.