I went to Philly on Saturday to celebrate my cousin's 30th birthday party. His wife, Lia, organized this lovely service to celebrate his life and achievements where friends and family could gather to show their support and love. It was really beautiful. She had set it all up as a surprise and on Saturday morning at 10am we all gathered in their church where Lia planned a service which included family coming up and sharing some words of love for Chaz, sang songs, read scriptures, offered testimony... it was quite emotional. What stunned me was not that everyone has such love for Chaz but that folks came from around the country to celebrate and that he has done so much in his short years. He is really a special individual so deserving of all the praise. This is the only picture I took of Chaz the whole weekend (in the Howard sweatshirt), standing with my cousin Joe.
My other cousin Chucky flew in from LA on Thursday night and drove up with me on Saturday morning (after getting almost no sleep due to my wine and cheese the night before!) Here he is with one of Chaz's daughters, Rissa. Too cute!
One thing that I came away from the gathering with was how little I have accomplished in my life! I can't imagine being celebrated like that at age 30. Chaz is a chaplain and has worked with the homeless for ten years; he's married and a father of two... at thirty my accomplishments were, well let's say not particularly impressive. At least I still have the second half of my life to do some worthwhile things.. it's time to get cracking!
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