Self taken photo of Kathy in 2009.
A few short months ago, I was “accidentally” introduced to Kathy Grimes. She facilitated a training seminar at my new company, The Pacific Institute. I say “accidentally”, because she was called in at the last minute due to a scheduling conflict with the original facilitator. The next three days would find us closely discussing our past, present, and future. We had a strong spiritual connection, and she encouraged me often. From there, it grew to a business partnership and quickly a familial friendship.
After lots of phone calls and emails about develping a business plan together, she invited me into her home to be closer. That is exactly what happened. Although we spent most of our days on growing our business, our nights were filled with great food, better conversation, and tons of laughter. One night, after a particularly good meal, I commented to Kathy that the food was so good that I wanted to “sew my ass shut”. It was a quote from a TV show, but it was an especially appropriate time to quote it. We laughed until we cried and tried to figure out a way to work that phrase into our business plan. Fortunately, we were unsuccessful.
On Monday, March 23, 2009, Kathy laid down to take a nap, and never woke up. She died of a massive heart attack without any signs of struggle. She was 62. She taught me so much about loving family and loving life in a tragically short amount of time. At her memorial today, Sean read an email that Kathy had shared with her husband just the week before. It was a breakdown of the word “guidance”. Life often times feels like dancing with God. When life us good, it is as if we are dancing in His rhythm. The “g” stands for “God”, the “u” stands for “you”, and the “i” stands for “I”. Together, that word paints a picture of God, you, and I dancing. It was beautiful. So was Kathy. Thank You God for blessing me with so many real moments with her.
