[embrace the random]

To go along with that last post, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone in my life who made 2011 the fantastic year that it was.  Yes, I did a lot and had so many wonderful experiences, but it wasn’t the events that made them such, it was the people I was with.

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dennisl09:

“FROM CARL SAGAN’S WIFE: When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me - it still sometimes happens - and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous - not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous and so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me and it’s much more meaningful… The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.”

— Ann Druyan, talking about her dead husband Carl Sagan.
Ain’t that something.  (via everythinginthesky, savagemike, weakmeatstrongeat) (via sarahalyse)

FROM LEFTCOASTJANE: From Carl Sagan’s wife… but maybe this is about you and anybody you got to spend a significant chunk of your life with and miss so terribly. This thought honors your person and that bond so much more intensely than traditional trite thoughts of afterlife …IMHO  

(via leftcoastjane)

For some unknown reason I’ve been thinking about my dad more lately. I mean, I always think about him, but the missing has been stronger. It’s confusing since it’s going on almost 4 years now, but I find it best not to question the time line of human emotions and grief. Anyway, regardless of bringing up the constant battle I have with myself on belief in some kind of afterlife, this quote reminded me of what I kept saying back then, that we were so lucky to have the time we did.