It's not often you go to a wedding and a funeral in one week

Much less a funeral on their birthday

Makes me contemplate birth, life, and death

Cycles

Just as this light beam every day begins to shine through the rocks, grows, and disappears until the next day

This light beam doesn't do this for Instagram or for people to see

But nonetheless hundreds and maybe thousands of people gather in this ancient petrified sand dune to gaze in awe at these columns of light

Creations of Mother Earth

And each of us has a unique experience in relation to this creation

Often without realizing, we touch hundreds and sometimes thousands of people in our lives

And we continue to touch them once we have passed

We celebrate each other everyday and cherish all the little moments

The laughter like light beams

The unconditional love of family

The friends that are the sun