Simply Indescribable
by Rebekah Sykes
There are those life moments that reach deep
into our soul, capture our heart, consume our
thoughts, and leave us forever changed. They
surprise, take our breath, give new purpose, and
leave us desperate to live, truly live! Sometimes
life becomes so complicated, consumed in
materialism, loaded in debt, strained in overcommitments
that we forget how to live! When
life-changing moments come, life becomes
present, and people become a beautiful gift.
Recorded upon the pages of Goodness
Abounds, 365 True Stories of Loving Kindness
by Jodi Chapman and Dan Teck is a collection of
inspirational stories from lives forever changed.
Once such local, Mr. Kenneth Laws, II, joins
other writers in sharing their journey of love,
kindness, and healing that was either witnessed
or received. Kenneth’s entry entitled, “Simply
Indescribable” on page 84, falls on March 23rd
of the intended daily read.
Just as the project found Kenneth, the gift
of writing became his therapy recording a story
that began over 25 years ago. Boy meets girl; they
fall in love, get married, have a baby, and then
life happens. Divorce and going separate ways
becomes inevitable. Another marriage, another
divorce, and then it happened—eventually it
happens to all of us. We wake up; get real; and
learn how to live.
Kenneth remembers his epiphany, “I reached
a point in my life where I made some significant
changes, and when I made those changes,
my whole world opened up! My viewpoints,
perspectives, how I treated people, how I
thought about things—all changed. It was very
dramatic, very drastic, and it was almost at that
time when she appeared. There is kind of an old
adage, ‘When the student is ready; the teacher
appears.’”
Kenneth was living in Wilmington at the time
when he decided to call his ex-wife Tara and
make some apologies for things that happened
many years earlier. He tells, “When I spoke to
her, I spoke as if I would never talk to her again—
very matter of fact and very frank—ending the
conversation with, “I am grateful you allowed
me this time; take care of yourself; and I hope
you’re well.”
In return, Kenneth
continues, “I was
given this gift of
unconditional love
when Tara said she
had forgiven me years
ago, and I needed to
acknowledge it. For
someone to accept
me for exactly who
I was became an
unbelievable gift.
Love is not based
upon how big your
house, or bank
account, or the kind of
car you drive—none
of that is important.
Life is about family
and love and how you
treat people in your
daily interactions.”
“Simply Indescribable” comes from a very
specific time period when Kenneth and Tara
became reunited after 18 years apart. Kenneth
shares, “God, the Universe, put us together,
and we ended up having nine months together
before she passed away from a massive heart
attack which was congenital. She died at home
at the age of 45 on May 3, 2014; her birthday was
May 17.” With intentions to first find healing
and then to show others to find the good in all,
Kenneth emphasizes, “It is and was imperative
that I do this in a way as to cause no harm to the
people in my life, be it before or after this time
period.”
When Tara passed, she genuinely had true
love and peace in her heart. Kenneth ponders,
“When you have peace with everyone around
you, then you can experience love in its purest
form. Tara taught me about being present and
living in the moment, about being grateful
and living a life of gratitude. I remember Tara
telling me that her goal was to work as little as
possible and live. At first it scared me, but then I
really understood that she was choosing to live
and appreciate life. As a culture, we imprison
ourselves to materialism; we enslave ourselves
to working our fingers to the bone to pay for all
the stuff we’ve acquired. The American dream is
an illusion!”
When Tara transitioned from this earth,
Kenneth discovered the true meaning of life.
“My life today doesn’t revolve around money. I
don’t care what people make, what they drive,
where they live—I’m going to treat everyone
the same. There comes a point in time when we
need to stop pointing fingers at everybody else
as being the problem and look in the mirror. My
hope is that people will wake up, give kindness,
and treat people with love.”
At the end of the day, there is love and fear.
You can choose to live one of two ways—a fearbased
life or a love-based life. Kenneth shares,
“The more that we can stay present and make
right now the most important thing, then there
is no room for fear. If I died tomorrow, then I’m
going to do exactly the same thing that I’m doing
right now.”
Encouraging others to live a joyous and
meaningful life goes back to being present. “If
you really sit and think about love versus fear,
fear is always an unknown,” Kenneth explains.
“Fear is an illusion wherein we get all worked up
about things that might happen, and you miss
out on what’s really important—the present.”
Upon Tara’s passing, a lady named Rhonda
Lee reached out and wanted to continue the
administrative privileges that Tara had managed
for the Pinecrest class of ’87 Facebook page.
When Kenneth met Rhonda, they knew they
would eventually be writing together. Being
featured in the Goodness Abounds, 365 True
Stories of Loving Kindness book series offered
a second opportunity for Rhonda and a new
concept for Kenneth. He tells, “It came at a time
when I needed to write, and I found inspiration
from Tara’s dream, ‘We’re going to help a lot of
people one day. I don’t know how, and I don’t
know in what way, but we’re going to help a lot
of people one day.’”
Inspired toward a greater dream, Kenneth
would love to write a book recording the nine
months he shared reunited with Tara. Although
SIMPLY INDESCRIBABLE con't. next column SIMPLY INDESCRIBABLE con't. next column
SIMPLY INDESCRIBABLE con't. p. 35
SIMPLY INDESCRIBABLE continued
SIMPLY INDESCRIBABLE continued
Love is not
based upon
how big
your house,
or bank
account,
or the kind
of car you
drive—none
of that is
important.
No. 130 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. p.7