The View from Up Here

Man. I am so thankful for my family. I could write a thousand books about that subject. I spend the morning with my mom, the afternoon studying, and the night with my new friend from Sunday. And this is how it went: Morning: my mom is the BESTTTTTTTT. I love my mom. Mom, mom, mom. My mom is great. MOMMMMMM. Afternoon: ugh. studying. I wish I was still at home... with my mom. and my dad. I'm going to call my dad. I miss my dad. MOMMMM. Nighttime: Let me talk about how cool my family is for twenty minutes.

So yeah. That's how my life is going right about now. And if you know me, you know that's pretty accurate of how my life usually is.... but even moreso today. Being in a program as intense as the one I am in just makes every day really stressful. It seems like sometimes it just isn't worth going on... but my family is always there for me to pump me up and cool me down. They are amazing. This morning it was just so easy for me to see why I was so inspired to live a life of choosing love; it's what I've grown up around my whole life. My dad is just incredible... but I'm just gonna talk a bit about Mama K for a sec. This woman would give me her last kidney without thinking twice if I needed it. She loves to make me breakfast every single time I come home and it's always just so loving and so thoughtful. It's either a sneak-attack, wake-up with french toast... or a let me know when I can get breakfast started for you!... kinda thing. She is amazing. She made me breakfast this morning and what comes with it? A CARD. A beautiful lovely card. She was going to send it to me because SHE READ THAT I LIKED GETTING LETTERS. Can I just cry right now? Amazing. Then inside the card was a letter from her and a gift--one that was so unnecessary and kind and just unexpected. My mom, ladies and gents! Then she was off on her way to go meet a friend for lunch to catch up and encourage her. She had three books and spent time really looking over each one to see what one would be the best to surprise her friend with. Come. On. Really? Really. This is my everyday life with this woman. It's absolutely no wonder that I am inspired to try and love people. That's what my mom does every single second of every single day. She's beautiful.

I chose love today by sending a get-well card to a friend, praying for people, checking in with friends, and meeting my new friend for dinner and paying for parking. It was a really great day. Also, I went to school to study with classmates, but no one else showed up. So, I just chose to show grace and send them my notes anyways.

Hanging out with my friend we went to the Griffith Observatory. After spending time swapping stories about our childhoods and how we were shaped by our families, I couldn't help but look out at all those twinkling lights of the city and feel sorry for so many of those people below me. I am just so incredibly lucky that I have grown up with such incredible role models-- people that make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world every.single.day. I am so fortunate; I hit the birth lottery. Reflecting on how much I have been given while looking out at the world was incredible. I hope that I can help spread the love to all of those people under the twinkling lights below me. Hopefully one day many more people will be able to look out from the view and think, look at that city of love.