All is Groovy

It’s been a rough week. Early this week, one of my son’s classmates died in a tragic accident. We all are forced to think about our own mortality when someone we know dies. When a child dies, it forces us to an even uglier place – the mortality of our children. It sucked the air out of my lungs. My heart ached. I felt as if someone was sitting on my chest. It is not a place I wanted to go and I retreated immediately.

My son did not know his classmate well but struggled with the concept that someone can be in your class one day and the next day he is not – he is gone. If someone is sick before they die at least you expect it, though it doesn’t make it easier. As adults that concept is hard enough to grasp and most of us have been there more than once in our lifetime. Can you imagine a child trying to process this for the first time?

Later in the week, my co-worker, who never gets sick, called out sick. That day he died at his home. Don’t know why. He was there one day and the next day he wasn't. So I started thinking.

The first time I remember hearing Simon and Garfunkel’s hit ‘Feelin Groovy’ was when Bob sang it on Sesame Street. It became a popular song on the show. The first line is ‘Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last.’ It’s about slowing down. It’s about taking the time to ‘watch your flowers growing’.

I think we all need to slow down. Take the time to enjoy the people we love. Take the time to notice what is happening in others’ lives. We all get so busy and involved in things that just don’t seem important.

Life happens and sometimes it takes awhile to recover. But in the end you have to pick yourself up, brush yourself off and carry on. Enjoy whatever time you have left. Which bring me to the last line in the song - ‘Life, I love you, all is groovy.’