RunMyssieRun

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson

Last week a number of my friends from years past gathered together to bid farewell to a couple of great friends, Mark Garza and Charley Neeley. Mark was a few years old than me and Charley a few years younger. Both were incredible guys.

I knew Mark a whole lot more than I knew Charley. We grew up together and went to school at a small private Catholic school and onto high school together  – although he was a few years older than I was. And even in college, he stayed close to me as my big brother when I was in Delta Zeta sorority and he was a Phi Sig. The whole time I knew him, girls swooned over him, never missed a cool concert, traveled all the world’s corners and lived life with such vigor… and stayed incredibly humble all the while. So when a cancerous tumor attacked his brain, everything changed. He came home for a short visit and without any warning of danger or fear in his eyes, he calmly stated his last wishes to his loved ones and in traditional Mark form, he gave big hugs, said his “I love you’s” and went back to New York.

In my eyes, I don’t think that Mark had many regrets in his life nor did he allow fear to control him. He lived life as it should be. I hope to do the same.

Mark, you will be missed.

This entry was posted on July 5, 2013 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.