Life is too short no matter how long you live…

This year has been an unusual year in my life. It’s a year I will never forget because on May 28, 2021, my mother made her transition from life to death leaving a deep void in my heart and family. Yet, I have found comfort and meaning through my travels. It seems that traveling has given me space and opportunity to reflect on the meaning of life and to seize opportunities to be refreshed and heal as I grieve. Even as as I’m writing this blog post, I am in Asheville, NC with my husband. This is an annual vacation that we take to celebrate his birthday and to exhale from the year. This birthday getaway also provides space for us to reflect on our year as a couple, as parents, and pastors and to gain clarity concerning our vision and goals for the coming year.

I recently vested Alaska for the first time in my life. On Wednesday, November 17th I boarded an 11:47 am flight to Anchorage, Alaska! You might be wondering why Alaska during one of the coldest months of the year. Well, my spiritual daughter, mentee and Soror Sonya Hunte lives there, and I decided to visit with her and enjoy one of my bucket lists trips.

Sonya moved to Alaska from Atlanta 3 years ago to take a job with the United Way organization. Since being in Alaska, she was recruited by the Anchorage School System as a Senior Advocate for Native Alaskan Families. I had been telling Sonya since she relocated, that I am coming to visit her in Alaska. I was planning to come last year but the global pandemic shut the world down.

Sonya called me after Mom passed and I told her that I was not going to let another year go by without coming to visit. My travel time from Atlanta to Anchorage was more than 10 hours with a short layover in Seattle. That alone made this trip different because I have never taken a long plane ride by myself. I travel alone on short trips regularly but I usually traveling long distance with my husband, our family, a group of women, a travel companion, or girlfriends.

But this trip was about me doing something that I really wanted to do no matter who was doing it with me. It was also different because most people vacation in Alaska during the spring, summer or fall months. But I wanted to experience an Alaskan winter. Yes, it was cold. In fact, the temperature never rose above 4 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I have lived through colder weather in my home city of Chicago where the wind chill factor makes for sub-zero weather often. I checked the weather in Anchorage before I left Atlanta, packed plenty of warm clothes, coats, hats, gloves, scarfs, boots and boarded my flight for a great time in this winter wonderland!

My Alaska winter vacation did not disappoint!!! The conversations, fellowship, food, sightseeing, new connections and rest was just what I needed to begin my first holiday season without my mom. I will forever cherish the time Sonya and I shared laughing, eating good food, talking about life, relationships, travels, education, and ways to carry our mother’s legacies into the future. This was a very healing trip for me.

Here’s the moral of this blog post, don’t allow people, time, distance, or weather to stop you from living. Live Until You Die because life is too short no matter how long you live…

Dr. Toni