It doesn’t take long these days with social media around to get the word out, unfortunately it was not good news this time. I found out today my older brother’s friend died yesterday in a plane crash. Knowing too well the loss that my high school friend is now experiencing for her brother has brought some very tender feelings back to my heart.

When my brother died there was a part of me that longed to go back in time when life was effortless and my world simple. When I didn’t know the pain of loss and how it could devastate you. When I didn’t have to think or concern myself with what came next I could just walked outside my door and a world was waiting to be created.

Sigh.

Those were the days, the carefree summers nights playing games with the neighborhood kids, our annual fourth of july swimming and fireworks with my cousins, riding horses in Star Valley, fishing, jumping in Lake Powell to cool off, playing star wars with my brother, sleeping in my doorway to feel the swamp cooler breeze, playing house in my tree house, walking to the dairy to get ice-cream, summer chores, sleepovers….etc. etc.

I can never go back to those innocent years and simpler times (honestly I don’t want to), but I am grateful those memories have stayed with me long after other ones have faded because it’s those carefree moments of running through the grass barefoot without a care in the world that have become a source of comfort and a continual reminder to me to let go, to not fear, to live with abandon–and heaven knows I need reminders.

I know life is fragile, and while I think we should continually keep our eyes focus on the now, our happy memories can be a source of peace and play a part in helping keep us on our desired course and live the life we always dreamed we would as a child. When you’re a child anything is possible, why should we forget that now that we’ve long grown out of our childhood?

We shouldn’t.

xo