stop - GO!

I was walking around this morning, thinking about stuff, as one does. As I crossed the street, I looked down at the sidewalk to see that above the big STOP sign, someone had come along and written a little "Go".

I love it. The bit of rebellion, the simple message as we start a new week to just Go. GO!

I needed to hear that this morning as I just found out that one of my family's dearest friends, Pearl Kusunoki, had passed away. She was my next door neighbor back home since birth. She and her husband, Kiyoshi (Jim, but I always call him by his beautiful Japanese name) were always there for my family, in the best and worst of times. She was the originator of my cherry chip cookies. She was the one who told me when I moved far away for the first time, looking deeply into my eyes, that "Everything will always be alright, as long as you stay Carol." I knew what she meant. She was a special one, one who it was written in her obituary, "had a love for beauty in all things."

I was very sad as I walked along in the fog, the weather fitting my mood. But then I saw the little, tiny "Go" right above the Stop sign, and thought of little, tiny Pearl ... who would most certainly be telling me to go ... but to stay myself.

What a gift to have known her, and to be able to celebrate her memory by finding, seeing, and loving the beauty in all things.

GO!


Love to all the dear Kusunoki family, now and always.