Leslie.

I mentioned Leslie the other day in a post but have been thinking about him a lot lately. I have no doubt in my mind that we meet people for a reason. Everyone, regardless of how brief the encounter can have an impact on our lives. Leslie is 76 and was diagnosed with ALS three years ago. I don't mention his illness because it defines him, I mention it because I'm not sure how positive I'd be if the roles were reversed. I've never known anyone with a terminal illness let alone someone whose spirit warms your heart and brightens your day in such a short period of time. Leslie lives where my grandma lives and my mom had met him one day while with Goose. She'd asked me to photograph a play of his last weekend and I was honored. Spending even five minutes with this man will change you. He's written a few books and today while at the hospital for Goose, I began reading his book, Wednesdays with Leslie. He wrote something that hit me, "when someone wants to do something for you, it's a blessing. Never stop someone from a blessing."

How often we pray for things and yet we deny the answers to our very prayers that could be coming from a simple friend that wants to do something for us. He's also made the comment that we don't know how much time we've got so we should do things sooner than later. I may not have ALS but I do know that if we spent less time talking about things and actually doing them, we would be happier. Our lives are very unpredictable, each and every one of us; don't put off things, for who knows the next opportunity we may get. A lot of people find out someone is sick and they push away for fear of getting close and losing them I say that's a poor excuse to deprive yourself of the amazing relationships you'd be missing out on.

Fear ruins a lot and disables us. Fear of a broken heart keeps people from truly loving, fear of failure keeps people from truly succeeding, and fear of loss keeps people from truly living.