Honey, I didn’t come here to stay.
That rock solid wisdom lessens the wistfulness of last week’s blog. The speaker is in her 80s, has buried a husband or two, seen a child die,
but remains grounded in her faith and her family. She isn’t afraid to die.
Why do I forget that with arrival, there is departure, at least in this life, try as science will to keep us going forever? Advertising does us no service either, promising youth, implying youth is the goal, the prize in the cracker jacks box. But we came here with death as destiny.
It turns living into a challenge: how to live the best life possible because this particular assembly of circumstance and folk is unique. And then there is the deeper question: what is the best life? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Money. Power. Control. Faith. Family. Friends. Success. What?
Stumble on, pilgrim, and let me know when you find the answer, only I think I know the answer. It’s in your heart, not always easily discernable, but there, like your heartbeat.
Listen. Listen. Listen.
Karleen Koen — writing life 
I have chill bumps….
Before my mother-in-law died in December, she told me that if she died by the end of the year, she would be pleased. Then one day, unexpectedly, she took a nap and didn’t wake up.
I am grateful that she trusted me enough to confide in me. And now I, without her, missing this beloved kindred spirit, ponder these same questions.
I think you’ve found the answer … keeping your writing as the centerpiece!!!
– grackle