Opportunities & Choices

We each have opportunities and choices given to us each and every day. We have the ability and free will to ignore them or to use them.

The sixth anniversary of Liz’s death will be here in about six weeks. My intention is always to find a way to honor her in some way as each anniversary comes and goes.

I never know how I will honor her. However, I haven’t had to think too hard because many wonderful opportunites just seem to present themselves about this time each year.

Last year I was able to send some words of advice via email to the parents of current U of M students moving into off-campus housing. That gelled into more opportunities to create a flyer to hand out at a picnic for U of M students on 9-20-03 at Van Cleve park, just across the street from Liz’s house. I also was given the opportunity to do a TV segment to mark the fifth anniversary of the fire and note the progress made in making off-campus housing safer for today’s students.

This year, once again, the opportunites are beginning to present themselves to me.

Liz was an avid cheerleader in high school. I learned last week that for the second year in a row, the alumni cheer team will perform at our county fair in memory of Liz.

In September, a story I wrote about Liz will be published in Angels on Earth magazine.

Today I was contacted by a local TV station and asked to do another news piece on fire safety. The story will air during the first week of classes at the U of M.

There are no words to express my gratitude for these opportunities to make a difference AND to remember my girl.

I’d like to think, and I am confident, that Liz is playing an integral part in pulling it all together and making it happen.

We are a team and together we make a difference. And that, makes life worth living.