Friday, January 14, 2011

Half-staff


I snapped this picture while walking to work.  This is Union Station, the main train station in the middle of DC, and this is where I get off the metro everyday to go to work.

The flags are half-staff because of the Tucson shootings.  I'm standing at half-staff internally due to the death of an old friends' sister that happened this week.  We all grew up in the same church family, but she was 4 years younger than I -better friends with my sister than I was, and I was mostly friends with her brother. 

But still, a girl I knew when she was just a little girl is dead.  A car accident, with a husband in Korea in the air force, and two baby girls that were in the car with her.  Thankfully the girls are okay.  Erika isn't.

And suddenly, it's fifteen years ago in my head and memories of that time in our youth when time suspended and we were at the top of our entire lives are spilling into my present life and it's all too much to take in.  I'm sitting in a meeting and I'm flashing back to a moment when we're gathered on somebody's porch and guitars are playing and I'm high on the sound of our voices. 

Tomorrow morning I will get up before dawn, drive to Kentucky, and I will hear the sound of those voices all the way home.

5 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

Oh baby. I'm sorry. Mr. Moon is on the phone right now with the wife of an old friend of his and that friend has passed on too.
Shit. Life is short.
Play the music loud.
Dance.

adrienne said...

blessings to you, and to those two young girls and their father.

xo

Mel said...

What Ms. Moon said. Let the music help carry you. And travel safe.

Bethany said...

oh gosh how sad.
i'm so sorry SJ.
Drive safely. Go easy.

TheAbsolutPINK said...

i'm right there with you on this. all those feelings washing over me. Not sure if you made it to the service yesterday - hopefully we can catch up soon.

Love u