Life is Hard. Life is Beautiful.

This past Friday, I attended the funeral service for a 58-year-old man who had lived with a brain tumor for ten years. And now I know yet another widow who will not have the chance to grow old with her best friend.We may have more snow on Wednesday. As if this winter hasn't beaten us down enough. March will not slip into spring, not without one last roar, apparently. Cities and towns have run out of salt, have depleted their snow budgets long ago. We're going broke paying for heat. Our roads are falling apart. School may last until July at this point, with so many cancelled days. I've ingested too many carbs this winter, trying to find comfort in a bowl of macaroni and cheese.Depression is all around. Whether it's because of aging, menopause, winter, unemployment, lost love, or the feeling that time is slipping through our fingers, it can be a struggle to get up each morning and just live. I get it. I see it in my friends, I listen to it. People I love are suffering.The snow will melt. It will feed the rivers. Life will burst forth - not yet, but soon. New life means hope. Hope brings light to darkness. It covers cold with warmth. It vanquishes dread and despair. Hope is joy. Joy is laughter. Life is beautiful.