Thursday, January 17, 2008

move on

an Andee Carlsson photograph

One of my favorite Stephen Sondheim songs is Move On. I was just thinking of Andee again -- what her life meant to a lot us. And I started humming the tune. The reason is simple. I can hear Andee passing along the opening lines:


Stop worrying where you're going, move on
If you can know where you're going, you've gone
Just keep moving on.


I am convinced it is Andee's way of saying that it is time for all of us to live life just as she did -- caring for those who needed care. And realizing how much she added to our lives in even the most mundane things. I noticed this morning ever since Jiggs's recovery, I now pick up litter as the two of us walk around the neighborhood. A small thing. But it was Andee's acts of modeling kindness that caused the change.


I have always liked Andee's photograph posted here. It is now part of my life. And now it is time to live that life.


Andee, thank you for being with us on this journey.

2 comments:

Brenda Maas said...

Lovely post.

Steve Cotton said...

As you know, Brenda, she was a lovely woman.

During my walk this morning, I discovered that someone had strewn several hundred squares of construction paper on the sidewalk for three blocks. I started picking them up and realized it would take time and I needed to get to work. I started to walk away and heard a voice: "Andee would not leave the job undone." I stayed.

The street is better for it. I felt better for having done it. And, though I was late for work, the world did not come to an end.