Yesterday, I read the obituary of a brilliant, well-regarded and much-loved local woman whose light on earth was snuffed out way too soon after a hard-fought battle with cancer. It was the most beautiful obituary I had ever read. It made me cry and smile at the same time because it showed the true spirit that she had and shared with the world.
Not one time did it say "she lived life to the fullest." That would have been too cliche. It was clear that she savored special moments and took pleasure in the little things. A lot of times, when people suffer a loss so devastating they begin thinking they should "live life to the fullest" or "live every day as if it's your last." But do we really do that? Do we live each day as if tomorrow will never come?
It's easy to say, but not so easy to do. I know that she lived that way before her diagnosis and didn't let that awful demon stop her from loving and sharing and shining. Everyone around her knew it. She accepted the fact that her days were fleeting, but instead of curling up on her couch and crying, she shared her journey with all of us in a raw and powerful way. It takes a remarkable kind of person to do that.
So, do we read the obituary and promise ourselves that we are going to really take life and ride it like a comet and then actually do that? Maybe. I wish I could say I would do that. My reality, like many of us, is that we celebrate the amazing woman she was and hope that we could be as inspiring as her and then fall back into the everyday routines of our lives. But that is where she was the most inspiring. It was the little things in life that she talked about being the most precious. Her memories of silly moments and funny faces - those are the things we can cherish. We don't necessarily need to run out and go skydiving or travel to Europe or ride a roller coaster. But, we should look at the things in our lives that we take for granted and focus on them.
Stop taking a picture of the sunset and just watch it melt into the horizon. Stop worrying if your kid should take another cello lesson and just smile at the squawking chords. Stop yelling at our kid to clean up their room and kick the clothes out of the way before you jump on their bed and watch them play a video game.
I think that is the message. This life is fleeting. It's like a nanosecond when you compare it to your everlasting life. So, let's just try to stop sweating the little things. Let's smile more. Be kinder to people. Let the person cutting you off in traffic just go ahead of you. Let your kid stay up a little later sometimes.
And do yourself a favor - if you haven't read Erica Chase-Salerno's blog posts, do it today. Also, please consider donating to her children's education fund and help them shine as bright as their mama did!
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyfreeman/obituary.aspx?n=erica-chase-salerno&pid=191491314
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