Back in my college days I liked to play tennis. Never was very good at it, in fact my girl friend at the time used to beat me every time we played.

I feel like I’m back at playing tennis. But this time I’m the ball.

I’ll be depressed and in the dumps. Then – Boink – I’m on the other side of the net and thinking I might survive. Then – Whack! – back over the net I fly, into dispare again.

The shots to the feel better side of the net seem to be the nice slow easy soft ball shots. The kind that bring the other player to the net to just smash the hell out of the ball, hitting it back at you before you can get set.

After a period of being in the dumps, I had been finally starting to get some hope again.

Then my cousin’s husband posted a link to the video below on his Facebook.

This video shows a Tiawanese kid singing the Dolly Parton song “I Will Always Love You”. That haunting verse hit me. The song isn’t about a lost child. But that thought of always loving someone even when they are no longer in your life made me think of Richard.

Whack – right back in the dumps.

Then later I was reading my email. Someone sent me a link to this video.

After watching this guy – with all his physical problems I felt guilty. If he can overcome all that and still live a happy productive life, surely I can manage to overcome this grieving and face life with a positive attitude.

And now I’m floating back over the net to the better side – waiting for that next smack.