An incredible lesson I have learned through this is the power of friendship... I have returned two emails this morning, one to Ian who inspired me to blog, and one to my dear friend Mary... both have sent me numerous emails full of love and well wishes as we've been trying to make sense of all that's happened... what never ceases to amaze me is how little we consider our friends' daily lives until a tragedy occurs... it forces us all to stop going through the motions of everyday life, of merely existing in this realm, and really live each moment... I don't know whether to be grateful for this lesson learned the hard way but I have said and will continue to say that we all need to be more aware in our lives and take a moment to tell your friends that you love them... not just me as we work through this, but to all of the people you count as friends... I had one friend who was in counseling and she called me up and told me that her therapist called me her safe haven... it never occurred to me to be any different and that you're suppose to support their decisions and be happy for them... we're supposed to be there for the ups and downs and thank them for just being themselves... I truly feel blessed to know there are so many people who count me as their friend and will do my best every day to remember each of you... I will do better at calling and dropping cards in the snail mail for no reason other than to say that I'm thinking of you... our friends lift us up when we've stumbled and hold us tight when we're scared... without the outpouring of kindness I don't know if I would have had the strength to be the mother that my kids need me to be... I know in time I'll be whole again but you, my sweet friends, make all the difference!

Charge of the Day: Perform two random acts of kindness and pick up the phone and tell someone how much they mean to you!