Today is the first anniversary of Lisa's passing. I had planned to write some great thing about her last few months on the planet. Now that the time is here, my mind draws a blank. I can't write something great because there's nothing great about her not being able to get up out of bed. There's nothing great about the best thing in your life not being there anymore.

I'm trying to live my life the way that she would want me to, but it's the most difficult thing I've ever done. Lisa showed Kindness where ever she went. Not big things, but the little things that most people wouldn't remember. Like letting someone have the shopping cart I was bringing back at Aldi's and not taking the quarter deposit needed to get the cart. While driving, letting someone in ahead of me where the road narrows for construction (or is it DEstruction?).

I think the biggest Acts of Kindness that Lisa did involved kids. There are 4 that stand out. 2 of them are friends of our daughter and the other 2 were kids that we babysat. All 4 will remember her for what we did for them (it was mostly her, not me).

Of my daughter's friends, one was an exotic dancer and the other was an aimless drifter. The dancer is now a stable Mom in a long term relationship. Th aimless drifter just got her PhD in Nuclear Physics and has dedicated her work to fighting Cancer until a cure is found.

Of the kids we babysat, both had parents that weren't good parents at all. One, the father was into drugs (still is) and the mother was totally into herself. Self absorbed and as crazy as they come. His parents never did much to teach him the difference between right and wrong. This kid is now in his 30's and manages a Subway restaraunt. The other, we babysat him from the time he was about 2 weeks old. Both of his parents were into drugs. His father was into crack cocaine and his mother was into all kinds of pain killers. His father died from a heart attack, probably caused by the drugs. He is 25 and just became a father last December and he has a great job with a cable company as a troubleshooter.

There are other kids that we sat for, but we lost contact with them many years ago when we moved away from New York. There is one that became a disappointment for Lisa. I never liked the kid from the first day we watched him, even though he was only 5 years old at the time. He is currently serving time in Virginia prison system for raping two girls under the age of 10. It's my hope that when he gets out in 2020 he moves out of the state, or, better yet, out of the country! (He better not come near any of my grandkids!)