Lest you fear that I was institutionalized after my last post about the shoe incident, I am writing to relieve your anxiety. I am still here. I just went to the beach for a few days, last week, and was out of my routine..... that's all. And as far as I remember, I successfully matched my shoes, each and every day that I was there, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself again.

I was at work, yesterday, when I sat down for a break and noticed the news breaking about Kate Spade. I sent a screen shot of the headline to Blair. Just last week, while shopping with me at the beach, she was saying that Kate Spade and the J Crew stores embodied her style preferences best. I knew she'd be so sad to hear the news as she'd been a fan for quite some time.

I don't know what touched me so deeply about the news of her suicide. I certainly didn't know her. She lived up in New York and I'm way down here...a Mississippi girl. I'm not sure I'd ever even seen a picture of her until yesterday. Had never really thought about how old she might be. I suppose the closest connection we had was my wallet having her name written across it and a purchase of a purse or two or three for Blair on special occasions, through the years. Other than that, I never gave Kate Spade much thought until I heard of her death. But, as I read, something about it seemed so incredibly sad to me and I even found my eyes tearing up over someone I'd never met.

From everything I've seen, she was a kind and funny lady. She had her husband of many years and a young teenage daughter and pictures showed her to be just a regular person......sitting barefoot on her sofa next to her hubby....laughing and drinking coffee. Her neighbors said she was always friendly and smiling. There just seemed to be something unexpectedly normal about this fashion icon and commonality probably doesn't show itself very often in the designer world.

I thought about how, like her, a lot of us go around dragging some pretty heavy things behind us. Life isn't always easy, you know? Sometimes, we can look over at someone else's journey and it's just so obvious that their life is weighted down with problems and cumbersome circumstances. There are people I know in pretty desperate situations now. Your eye just can't help but be drawn to their considerable, pronounced, and seemingly unfair load. Their struggle is dramatic and on full display for everyone to see and we run to help and offer our shoulder.   

But, maybe the saddest kind of all of life's struggles is that, each day, we are all wrestling with things that others cannot see. Silent, invisible foes that so many of us are grappling with and no one else knows. The big, noticeable battles, well, they scream for love and support from those around us, but the inconspicuous struggles are unable to attract anyone's attention or concern. That is quite possibly the saddest, loneliest place to be. On a battlefield with no one else around to stand with you.

We've all been there. Whether we're trying to maintain a certain image, be strong for others, be independent, or just too ashamed to admit a weakness or failure, we've all been in a place of distress or crisis where there were no other souls standing next to us.....because they just didn't know.

I saw this saying, a few years ago. It spoke to me because I believe it to be so true.
No matter how "together" we may like to appear, there are times when something is going on inside all of us. If we always treated others like there was a strong possibility they were quietly fighting a giant with everything in them, wouldn't the world be a better place? Wouldn't we, women, do well to encourage each another in our exhausting efforts to be all things to all people? Wouldn't we feel less alone in our journey if we disconnected from technology and reconnected with touch and face to face? Wouldn't there be more victories in life if we told people about the hope they can have even in their distress, Jesus? Wouldn't He want us to ask if we could walk beside them as long as they needed us....even the extra mile?

Maybe we could make a difference in somebody's life.

A really big difference.

Let's be kind today.