Life Flashing Before Your Eyes

I've often heard people refer to their "life flashing before their eyes" when they were in a perilous situation.

I am neither in a plummeting aircraft nor observing an oncoming drunk driver in a Mack truck. My threat is more of a slow motion thing. So I guess the life flashing before my eyes is more of a slow motion thing.

One of the "perks" of cancer is the opportunity to reflect intently on one's life. I've posted before my thoughts about how I have been blessed with a good life (a great life, actually). But it's also been kind of a "This is Your Life" season for me, where I have had the opportunity to be transported back in time. Back to my seminary teaching days, as I have been in touch with some of my seminary students. Back to my singing days with Evening Song choir, as we rejoined the group for a rehearsal and an upcoming tour. Back to my dancing days with Jared. Back to my high school days with "the gaggle". Back to the many years of Messiah. Back to the family vacation and "second honeymoon" days at Disney World. Back to the day when my son was born, as recently relived with his birth grandmother on the phone. And so on.

Long, long ago B.C. (before cancer) - about 11 years ago - during a trip to New York City, I had my first taste of time travel back to the sixth grade. I saw Shaun Cassidy perform on Broadway, and I caught him afterward at the stage entrance for an autograph. I think I even touched his jacket. He was my obsession when I was in the sixth grade, and seeing him in real life took me back to those days when I would have fainted at the idea of getting to meet him.

That crush had long-since been transferred to my husband, but there was another part of that sixth grade era that I have missed: my best friend at the time. Her name is Dawn, and we maintained a friendship not only during that sixth grade year at Lake Zurich Junior High School (in Illinois), but also for years afterward, despite my family's move to Utah during the summer before seventh grade. We wrote each other frequently and had a fun reunion at the Great America amusement park during a family trip back to Illinois when I was about sixteen or so. We continued to correspond for years thereafter, but fell out of touch around the time that we each got married. I would often think about my good friend and wonder where she was, how she was doing, etc.

I recently had a nagging feeling that I needed to find her again - NOW. And thanks to the magic of Google, I was able to find her! It has been a fun and exciting reunion as we have been catching up with each other through email and phone conversations, and every time we talk I get to have that fun time of life "flash" before my eyes. Dawn is coming to Texas for a visit next month, and I am very excited for the opportunity to let her meet my husband and kids, and to relive another great time of life.