Legacy MattersPatti watched her stepfather die of lung cancer just 37 days after being diagnosed.
The timeframe of 37 days made an impression on me. We act as if we have all the time in the world - that's not a new understanding. But the definite-ness of 37 days struck me. So short a time, as if all the regrets of a life would barely have time to register before time was up.
And so, as always when awful things happen, I tried to figure out how to reconcile in my mind the fact that it was happening and the fact that the only thing I could do was try to make some good out of it. What emerged was a renewed commitment to ask myself this question every morning: 'what would I be doing today if I only had 37 days to live?'
It's a hard question some days.
But here's how I answered it: Write like hell, leave as much of myself behind for my two daughters as I could, let them know me and see me as a real person, not just a mother, leave with them for safe-keeping my thoughts and memories, fears and dreams, the histories of what I am and who my people are. Leave behind my thoughts about living the life, that "one wild and precious life" that poet Mary Oliver speaks of. That's what I'd do with my 37 days. So, I'm beginning here.
Her blog 37 days is a fine one. Patti shows how richly you can live when you keep the horizon line in sight. And how much fun you can have.
Every week she writes a new essay with a Do It Now Challenge Burn those jeans, always rent the red convertible, live an irresistible obituary, know the point of your life, find your own saxophone, and stand on your own rock
She's terrific, smart and wise and funny to boot, all while pondering the big questions. Don't miss her.
Posted by Jill Fallon at August 23, 2005 2:17 PM | Permalink