My old suitcase...

We are tired, my old bag and I. It looks worse than me, but we've seen many miles, especially this week. I love this companion, even though it is really only good for when I am driving to my overnight since I could never expose it to the madness of airline travel... Besides the ripped handle and a sticky lock, I recently added a toothpaste stain on the inside. But the things I love are the separator inside and the old leather smell that always makes me think about the inside of the trunk at the foot of my grandparents' bed.

The kids are with me tonight, and for that I am blessed again. I do not know if I can make it through the UNC game tonight because I so tired, but I am also not really looking forward to the game either. Low expectations may make it more interesting game.

Three events have brought the week, and life, in focus in the last two days. Having to watch good friends deal with excruciating issues at work, and two different deaths, one affecting Mary Jo (her high school boyfriend died today from meningitis) and the other one of my best friends, Lee Ellis (his long-time business partner and mentor, Bill Burleson, died suddenly yesterday, remind me that life is unpredictable and hard in many ways for many, many people. But I was also reminded how blessed I am to have learned in my own life hard lessons, and am better because of it all.

D90 85mm f/2.0 1/30 ISO 400