Life is too short for a great many things. It's too short for not doing all the things that you want to do. It's too short to spend it doing things that you don't like to do. It's too short for housework, diets, and not sleeping in when you want to. It's too short for the regrets of things you didn't bother to do when you could have.

Above all else, it's too short for ill will, grudges and hurt feelings. I find that that is particularly apropos, in this month of February where tensions have traditionally run high, feelings have been hurt, and people have left the boards as a result.

But now it's even more somber and important, as there has been a death in the stitching "family".

This morning I learned that someone who has been in the stitching communities for as long as I can remember has passed away suddenly. I don't know the circumstances, and it doesn't matter, because either way it's a tragedy. She was way too young.

Laura and I didn't see eye to eye on a great many things, and sometime in our collective past we clashed terribly and left with not so great feelings about each other. It's not that we went out of each others way to avoid each other, but we just didn't swing in the same circles anymore. It happens. I can say that about a lot of people after the TWBB's chat forums dissolved, but that's neither here nor there.

Today I'm left with a small sense of loss. I followed Laura in her blog, I'm fairly certain she followed mine. We didn't comment on each other's writings, and that's just the way it was. Even before the clash we had, which I can't even remember what it was about, we weren't the closest of friends either. More like passing acquaintances in the same microcosm of stitchers. But still...

She's gone and there is no opportunity for her and I to ever attempt to see eye to eye again. A commented on that I *will* get that chance when I pass on (wise 10 year old, she is), but I don't intend on leaving this earth anytime soon, God willing. So I'll sit with the fact that I won't have a chance to do anything for a great long time.

But the point of this isn't my regret or the fact that Laura and I didn't see eye to eye. The point is this: life is way too short to let bad feelings, grudges, or unresolved issues sit for very long, if at all. You just never know when someone in your life isn't going to be there the next minute that you look for them.

Now, that's not to say that I'm going to go making amends with everyone who has passed through my life that I've had issues with because there are many or are very far flung to other parts of the world, or I've simply got no way to find them. I'm still thinking about a couple of people that had significant impact on my life (good and bad) and whether or not it would be inviting trouble to find them and make whatever amends possible and I may not do anything about them. But going forward, I can do something.

I can make sure that my friends know that they are loved. I can make sure that DH and I never go to bed angry (we never do anyway). I can make sure my children know that even when we're angry at each other, we've not stopped loving each other. I can do my best to keep an even temper when I'm debating with someone no matter how far apart our opinions are. And if we walk away from the table with divergent opinions and some simmering heat, I'll make sure they know that I respect them and still enjoy their company even if I don't agree with them.

Life is too short for anything less than being happy and enjoying those around you.