Graduating from the University of Michigan was one of my biggest accomplishments. I was paranoid that at graduation something embarrassin was going to happen. I had nightmares of me falling down the stairs at the Big House, I had visions of me being caught falling asleep during the comencement ceremony. The list went on. At graduation I walked so slow down the stairs, I held up everyone, but I didnt fall :-) However, at Black Celebratory, my gown broke, the zipper refused to go up moments before it was my turn to walk up the stage. How can this happen to me, just my luck! I was so upset, I contemplating not walking up and having my name read, but a friend convinced me to just do it anyways. I did, and it was fine, worried for nothing.
I had the pleasure of going to Atlanta to watch my only brother graduate from high school. Watching him cross the stage, was such a moment for me, my brother has his whole life ahead of him and I was so Moved. My brother was the kid noone thought would graduate, poor grades and bad life decisions almost ruined his future, but now he is living on his own in chicago and doing well in Art School.
Everything changed at dinner.
My family went to dinner to celebrate my brothers graduation. As we sat, my brother turned red and almost passed out. Breathing frantically and having a hard time breathing. We had to rush him to the emergency room. I spent hours in the ER waiting room, holding my brothers cap. How could moments ago he be walking across the stage and smiling nd the next gasping for air and the whole family filled with a different set of emotions. My brother is ok, turned out he is allergic to Atlanta and some throat closure issues.
But the night taught me the value of family and how fragile life can be. The things ive worried about the nightmares that kept me up and the people I let hold me back...doesnt really seem to matter when facing a life altering situation. I think learning how fragile life could be and remembering what really mattered in that moment was the best lesson or gift i could have gotten as I move on to the next chapter of my life.
Don't take the people you love for granted. I am reaching out to friends lost and people that need to know how valued they are to me. I am also living my life with the knowledge that sweating the small stuff is pointless and that In a Moment it could all be different.
