Brave Enough To Be Bliss

Two- The second thing, buy the fancy truck. BUT take your grandsons and people for lots of rides in it. It’s no fun riding alone. Three - Buy the condo in Breck but share it like crazy. Open your home to those you love. Four - Travel. travel all over the place but keep ending up where your people are. That’s where home is. Five - S ay I love you and give the hugs. Life‘s too short to withhold the things that matter. Uncle Tom had two very clear things he said to me at the end. One of them I will never ever forget, and it was I love you, Ab. That was one of the very last things he said to me, and I’ll treasure that memory forever. The other thing was a little inappropriate, so I won’t share it in church, but we had a little trust issue we had to work through. And did. Six - Collect your people. Tom had good friends show up. Keep your family close but collect the people that ride shotgun with you all the way to the end. Seven - E ncourage others. Even if you don’t get them or get their hangups. Encourage the m anyway. He did that for my girls I can still hear him saying “come on Lil be brave you’ll be fine I’ll go with you.“ First time in Breck. He did the same when I was a single mom with just me & Gaige. He was so excited to have a boy around to take to tractor shows. He showed up and I needed him to fill the gaps for me. Eight - Show up. drive from Breckenridge to Wisconsin to El Paso and then to Forrest to get lunch where your great niece works because it matters to her. Nine - Face your hangups and overcome them. Don’t let those things continue to hold you back. Go experience life. Stay on the farm or don’t stay on the farm but do it with no regret. 10 - Connect. Connect with people in a way that makes them want to be a better person. Leave them feeling encouraged and inspired to pursue their own dreams and hopes. Form the connections that last not just the connections that build a business. Uncle Tom was about people. He was about doing what was right and good in the best way he knew how. So, I think he would be thrilled to have you take his lessons and use them for your own. Because that was the graciousness of our Tom. Thank you ❣️ “Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’” Brené Brown Through the years, I have attended many funerals for loved ones of staff members. It has been one of the most meaningful ways to express my care for the human beings I have worked with. As a leader, I could always push myself to do things that were difficult for me on a personal level. As I have grown personally, however, now when I attend funerals, it isn’t something I have to prepare for emotionally, it is something I am honored to experience with those I care for. I had the pleasure of working with a mom and her two adult daughters, and when their mom/grandma passed away, it was an honor to attend her funeral and learn even more about this wonderful woman who was so dear to them. Their eyes lit up when they talked about her through the years I worked with them, and they still did on the day of her funeral. Not even death could take away the light and love she brought to their lives. The funeral was unlike any other I had previously attended, so I wrote the following message to the mom that afternoon to let her know how much it had impacted me. It was sincerely my honor and pleasure to be there, to get to hug you and the girls, to get to see the photos and hear the loving words spoken about your beautiful Mom. It was such a touching service and I found myself starting to cry for you all, happy that you had such a wonderful Mom and Dad as that came through loud and clear, but also sad because it was obvious just how deeply she would be missed. I was struck when I walked in by how loud it was, and I loved it! So many funeral services are quiet and uncomfortable and there is only sadness. There are so many reasons for that, but this one was so full of life and energy and connection and pure joy even among sorrow. After hearing everyone speak, I got it, it made sense. It was her! She gave that all to you and you give it to each other and then you even give it others beyond your family. I was thinking on the way home that this day seemed to be made just for her wit h all the light and vibrant blue sky…beautiful just like she was to look at and to be loved by.

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