“To live according to God is to love” said Saint Francis de Sales.

My friend Kim Rumsmoke Kashian demonstrated that love every time she talked with her family and friends, always closing with “love ya!”  I asked her why she did this when, at the end of a conversation, she said it to me. Followed by “well, I’m waiting…”

She said we’d never know when it would be the last time we’d see or talk with our friends.  It was important to let people know that you loved and appreciated them. Kim wasn’t afraid of sharing her love with us.  Even if you heard it from her and said it to her a hundred times, you knew how that hundred and first conversation was going to end.

“Love ya!”

What a tremendous gift she gave us to remember her by! Those two simple words that she repeated many times.   I’ll never be able to read or hear “love ya!” without hearing her voice, remembering her laugh and smile and her spirit.

When we share our love for each other, and particularly with her family in the coming months and years, we are remembering Kim. And it’s so easy to do.

I’ll see you again buddy.

“Love ya!”

P.S. If you don’t know who Kim Kashian is, watch this. A remarkable woman and friend. She begins speaking at 3:03.