Grief and Blogging

Memphis blogger and local political junkie Steve Steffens tragically lost his companion of 20 years this week. I met Lauren Hesse once at a Drinking Liberally meet-up a few weeks ago. She seemed like a quiet, thoughtful person. She didn't say a lot, but her love for Steve shone on her face. Newscoma wrote a moving tribute to her here.

I learned through the blogosphere that Lauren suffered a sudden and massive heart attack over the weekend. One thing social media is great at is spreading news. There was an immediate outpouring of sympathy for Steve and Lauren's family in the blogging community. Like so many of Steve's friends and fellow bloggers, my heart goes out to him. I've lost both my grandmothers, an aunt and worst of all, my father, but it's hard for me to imagine losing a mate. After a certain age we expect to lose our parents and other relatives. Intellectually we know it's going to happen some day. But when you plan your life around another person as Steve did with Lauren and the way the Captain and I have with each other--the loss must seem unbearable. However, life goes on for the living.

This sudden loss really brought home to me that every day we share with a loved one is precious. I resolve to never let a day go by without telling the Captain how much I love him. Life is short, and we must never take each other for granted while we share this world together.