My week was a mix of the cute, the busy and the emotionally draining.

We were going to ignore Halloween and just work late, however some neighbors invited us over for a “on their driveway” potluck along with tables set up with bowls of candy for the trick or treaters.  We went to that and enjoyed catching up with some of the neighbors that we don’t see too much anymore now that the kids are grown.  It was especially cute to see the young kids dressed up in adorable costumes, coming up to the driveway to “trick or treat”.  The great thing about a Halloween potluck is that I brought a bag of candy then left it there…no extra candy around the house to tempt me.  My blood sugar appreciated that.

The work week itself could be likened to a bullet train; full speed ahead, careening perilously around bends, barely on the track.  By Friday at 5pm, we were exhausted but satisfied; all orders were completed and delivered; all clients happy (always a good thing) and the next week organized but still at a distance.

My hubbie was off hiking with a buddy this weekend and I stayed back as I have been recovering from a heel injury.  With the weekend before me, I decided to go see some movies by myself.

I went to see the “Only the Brave” movie yesterday, about the 19 Granite Mountain firefighters that died in the Yarnell fire a few years ago.    I knew that it would be hard to see the movie so I also planned to see the Jane Goodall documentary right after the movie to add some balance to my emotions.  It turned out to be a good thing.

Where I sat in the “Only the Brave” movie put me in front of all the other viewers; this was fortuitous as I cried for the last hour of the movie.  I could not bear to see the end and yet I stayed in the theater.  I felt in some way that my seeing the movie was a way to give a tribute to the fallen firefighters and their families.

When the movie credits rolled, there was complete silence in the theater and no one moved for several minutes.  I imagine the other viewers, like me, were trying to compose themselves to walk out of the theater.  When I finally emerged, my emotions were “sort of” under control but I am sure my eyes were swollen and red from crying.

Having a son now who is a police officer is making me acutely aware that we are now a family that could lose a loved one in the line of duty.  These firefighters and police officers that put their lives on the line every day are heroes to me.  The families that face the future alone without their loved ones when tragedy strikes…they are also heroes to me.  I hope that I never have to face that grief but long ago came to realize that it is better to die having lived out one’s dream than to live a long life having never tried to live.