Making Each Precious Day Count

We are coming to the end of the first quarter of 2014. For me, it has been a year with a very clear lesson. No day is promised and each day on this earth is a blessing. I've known this intrinsically, but with so many unexpected deaths this year, it is being reinforced and magnified. 

If we are fortunate to awaken to a new day, it is a gift and to be treasured. But sometimes, facing a new day also holds the reminder of loss. It may be the loss of a dear friend who shared decades of memories, a classmate whose absence leaves an empty seat where once there was a warm greeting and a smile, or the choir member who sat behind you during rehearsals and smiled across the room at his wife at every opportunity. Now  you watch her quietly weep as you sing 'Farewell, My Own True Love." The loss could be more personal - a pet, a spouse, a child -  leaving a constant void in what should be your safe space, your home. 

Most recently, a dear friend's son died of a heroin overdose, an epidemic in our country. It is ignored as we focus our attention on a missing airplane or gay marriage. The elephant in the living room, stealing the lives of our children, is more likely ignored and denied. What if it's contagious? Another post. 

Each soul's passing brings adjustments and different stages of grief. There is loss of energy and motivation. Energy loss is cumulative, further depleted with the news of each departure.

April's posts will focus on numbers, dedicated to my father who died at the age of 46 years old when I was 13. He was a calculus professor and loved numbers. I've always simply endured them, being much more interested in letters and the arts, yet they are invaluable treasures, very much on my mind as I make a commitment to make each precious day count.

---