The Ripple Effect.

During the week I did a social media post about how my parents bought me a LEGO bumblebee set and how my sister's Hebrew name (D'Vorah) translates into bumblebee (follow me on social media if you are not - links are at the bottom of the email). Then, yesterday, I was at a gathering of high school friends, when one of my friends let me know that she was excited to be able to share her bumblebee knowledge with her colleague, D'Vorah. She questioned her colleague if she knew what her name meant, which she did. And then proceeded to share about my social media post. Her colleague was completely touched by the story.

This is why it is important to share your story and the stories of the people no longer able to share theirs. As I share my story it gives permission for other people to share their stories.

Most people feel a little awkward when you start talking about dead people. I personally do not understand why it causes such a strange reaction in people (I know it is a society thing). That is the exact reason why I talk about Lauren and tell her stories because people talk about all the crazy antics of their friends and family, and it should not make a difference if they are here physically or not.

I also find that the more stories I tell, the more things I remember. In the beginning of my journey, I kept all the stories to myself. I thought it would be easier just to push them into the back of my mind and not think about it. This accomplished the thing that I was trying to avoid, forgetting her. I was spending all my time talking about how she died, and it started becoming difficult to tell how she lived. Once I got back to talking about her life, the memories came back. And, listening to other people talk about their loved ones makes me remember even more.

Every story you tell is like a drop of water in a pond. It has the power to affect 1 person. And that 1 person can use that information to soothe another person. And so on down the line so that you have now created a ripple across the surface of the pond.

I have heard it said that you die twice. Once when your physical body shuts down. And the second time when the last person mentions your name. Tell your stories to keep people mentioning their names.