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Can I remind you?

The sun rises after the sun sets


Just before my birthday I had the task of inviting people to a birthday dinner. I thought about people who usually come support me by coming to my art shows or out to see my band (back when I had one) and people I hadn't seen in awhile who were dear friends. The ones who stayed in touch and made an effort to be a friend, essentially. So I invited them to a birthday dinner and one of the people on that list was my friend Mitchell Yuan. Mitch and I met and worked together at the Dallas Museum of Art and we became fast friends. You see someone 5 days a week, almost 8 hours a day and add that up over 8 years and you've created quite a bond. Add into the mix that the environment there was dysfunctional and negative and you begin to cling to your friends there like life rafts. They are your confidants and compatriots, your war buddies and your sounding boards. You tell each other your fears and stresses and try to glean any kind of joy you can in such a place. Such joy came from friendship. Such was the tale of me and Mitch. There are other war buddies in there too but this story is about Mitchell. 
When I left the museum to try to find out if there was real joy in life and discovered WOW...Life is a happy place when you aren't in a bad environment....Mitchell sought me out to see  how he too could be liberated.  I came across some of our messages to each other and smile, the memories flooding back like it was just yesterday. He was miserable where he was and it was affecting his health. Some words I imparted to him:  
"Anytime my friend, if there's anything you need let me know. Life IS too short for so much unhappiness, spend it being happy and healthy with those you love and who treat you like the wonderful person you are. You'll be on this side of the fence soon"

    • This side of the fence being the HAPPY side of life, away from that place. And our meeting happened shortly after the passing of my beloved Dad, so I felt purely blessed and wanted to impart that knowledge on to as many as I could. The urge was strong at the time to free everyone with that information....don't waste your time being unhappy, life is short, health and love are EVERYTHING. It was the very next day after our meeting that he was let go from the museum. His own words "PURE JOY" were how he described his liberation. He thanked me in this sweet message:

      • Oh my God, Trish, you were so right. I'm the happiest I've been in YEARS. It's absolutely 
      unbelievable how much joy I feel every morning when I get up. I feel like a veal calf that's 
      been taken out of its pen and brought to a big, green, lush meadow. It's so funny -- a week 
      ago I had what I thought was a secure job and I was miserable, but now I have absolutely 
      no idea what's going to happen next and I'm feeling just fine.

      Just wanted to thank you again. Somehow when I was having lunch with you, I was
       actually having lunch with a crystal ball.

      Hugs, man, massive hugs
     
    I'm glad that my friend Mitch got to experience that pure joy if even for awhile. I'm glad that his last few years on this planet found him away from a negative environment. Mitchell was unable to make it to my birthday dinner because Mitchell was very, very sick. The strong and stoic, quiet natured kind of person he was....he didn't tell many people about it. When he declined the invite to dinner he apologized sweetly, said he was too sick, had lost too much weight and could I please send him my good vibes. I did. But he still passed away a few days later. He will be missed but I know he has moved from this place to a place of no illness and pain and I know all he touched while he was here are better for knowing a soul like him. Dear Mitchell....Hugs, man, massive hugs...thanks for finding me on this planet while you were here. I will see you on the other side of the fence.
    Love, your friend Trish

    ***Please friends, life is too short to be unhappy. Life is too short to be quiet and not say the things you wish to say to those you love. Just do it. Your life will be so much happier for it. Don't live in fear, there is PURE JOY to be had in life.



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