I have been avoiding touching this subject matter for weeks, but since the trend is continuing I can resist it no longer. Accepting the phrase ‘into everyone’s life a little rain must fall’; I begin this week’s blog posting.

Both my early and late Fall semesters have been filled with introspection, due in part to the fact that my husband and I are approaching a new phase in our life together, which has its own set of worries and complications; but majorly because since about September we have been experiencing what I consider significant losses.

Roughly a couple weeks shy of the end of my early Fall semester, one of the oldest and dearest friends of my mother Mrs. Anna Jno-Baptist, whom I’ve known all my life lost her battle with cancer. In and of itself knowing that she was sick for a while, it shouldn’t be that much of a shock. But other losses came in quick succession which created a theme of loss for consecutive weeks.

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Just last week my husband attended the funeral of one of his good friends and colleagues, only 38 years old who died of a heartattack. Not even a week later, the father of one of my co-workers, who has made significant contributions to our Carnival celebrations, for years, lost his battle with cancer. And just this week, another cultural icon, who’ll be buried later today, lost her battle with cancer. Another notable personality in our society lost his battle with cancer, this week as well. It’s not me right, this looks like a trend/pattern doesn’t it? And next Wednesday, my godmother will lay her husband to rest.

You’re probably thinking, wow, that’s heavy, and you’re right it is very heavy. But as we know, death, is in fact a part of life, that at some point in time we all most deal with. We just need to cope with it the best way we can.

That said, this week, I want to encourage all of you reading this to take the time to . Because as they say:

Last week I mentioned, how much I LOVED music, and how it gets me through pretty much anything, so to lighten the mood a little I’ll share this:

This week’s post will be shorter than usual, as my thoughts aren’t flowing the way they usually do. I just want to encourage all of you to appreciate your friends and family. Tell them often how much you love them and try to live the best life you can, always finding the time for humor, as there is an excellent case to support laughter as an essential part of everyday life.

I’m not sure how many Monty Python fans there are out there, but they tell us to “Always look on the bright side of life”.

To truly, truly lighten things up, let’s go back in time and enjoy what eventually ended up being a huge phenomenon: ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. Every once in a while it’s nice to step outside of one’s life… into another dimension maybe?