That awkward girl with the blue hair is me at 14 years old, sitting with my friends on the former “Grassy Knoll” outside of Stuyvesant High School (there’s luxury condos on top of it now). Yes, there’s lots of Rollerblades. It was the 90s.
On the left is Katie McGloin. We were great friends back then, but then drifted apart after graduation, only seeing each other sporadically through my business or gushing about our kids over Facebook, joking about how they would NEVER find out about all the things we did when we were young.
Katie died from a brain tumor yesterday morning. She leaves behind a husband, two little boys ages 1 and 4, and many, many other heartbroken people. She was 33 years old.
Today’s blog isn’t for feeling sorry, because there’s going to be more than enough time for that. This is what it’s for:
I know that it’s Monday morning, and you’re grumpy, and you have a stack of papers or projects whatever else on your desk. I want every single of you to ignore it for five minutes.
Open your phone, find an old friend in your address book, and send them a text telling them how much they mean to you. Go into the hallway and call your mom. Send an email to your old group of friends that you never see because you’re all super busy and get really serious about getting that drink together. Or walk across the office and find a coworker who’s always helping you out or making you smile, and let them know how much you appreciate them.
It sometimes seems like we have all the time in the world. Then at times like this, no one is thinking they wish they’d spent more time day trading or watching tv or screwing around on the internet. Though you feel like you already know it, you realize that the best measure of a person isn’t what job they had or how much money they made- but by how much they were loved.
So go on. Remind someone that they’re loved. Your paperwork will still be there in five minutes. I promise.
Clockwise from front: Abuelita, Banana Nutella, Pecan Potato Chip, Butterbeer
Abuelita: Mexican chocolate cake, cajeta buttercream, ground Abuelita chocolate
Banana Nutella: Banana cake, Nutella buttercream, banana hazelnut praline
Pecan Potato Chip: Potato chip cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted pecans, salted butterscotch
Butterbeer: Butterscotch soaked cake, butterscotch buttercream, edible gold dust
