Here Today

Mortality is, as best, tenuous; our visit on this earth is brief. Each of us is reminded of this in different ways. Whether it is a well-known person or a loved one, the anniversary of their death is a personal aide memoire. It takes us down paths less traveled, navigating memories of time and place, happy times and moments that are bittersweet because their absence is underscored.

In Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom describes the living funeral for Professor Morrie Schwartz, dying of Lou Gehrig's Disease. "Some cried. Some laughed...Morrie cried and laughed with them. And all the heartfelt things we never get to say to those we love, Morrie said that day."

Age has taught me many things. One is not to wait; having a one-sided conversation with a memory is not all it's cracked up to be. There is no give and take, no exchange of ideas, no response, only your words.

Seize the day. Never save something for a special occasion. Take the time to smell the roses, stare at the night sky, listen to the sound of your breathing. Say what you need to say.