You learn to speak by speaking,
to study by studying,
to run by runnnng,
to work by working,
in just the same way,
you learn to love by loving.

~St. Francis De Sales


Love & Be Loved

A story by Mac Anderson... (a shared story from a friend of his)

I recently had dinner with someone who told me that one of his best friends had been killed in a private plane crash, and something happened at the service that he'll never forget. He shared the story with me.


At the memorial service his friend's wife walked to the podium to speak to the gathering. She said a friend had asked her the best memory she had of their life together. At the moment, she had been too grief-stricken to answer, but she had the thought about it since and wanted to answer the question.

They were in their late forties when he died, and she began talking about a time in their life almost twenty years earlier. She had quit her job to obtain her master's degree, and her husband never wavered in his support. He held down his own job and also did the cooking, cleaning, and other household chores while she studied for her degree.

One time they both stayed up all night. She was finishing her thesis, and he was preparing for an important business meeting. That morning she walked out of their loft, looked at him over the railing, and just thought how much she loved him. She knew how important this meeting was to his career, and she was feeling guilty that she didn't even make time to make his breakfast. He grabbed his briefcase and hurried out. She heard the garage door open and close, but much to her surprise, she heard it open again about thirty seconds later. From above, she watched her husband dash into the house and walk over to the neglected coffee table. Tracing his finger through the dust, he wrote the words, "I love you." Then he raced back to his car.

The new widow then looked out at her audience and said, "John and I had a wonderful life together. We have been around the world several times, we've had everything money could buy... but nothing comes close to that moment."

Life moves with lightning speed. It feels like yesterday that I graduated from college... and now thirty-five years have passed. Although I'm very proud of my business accomplishments, in the end my life comes back to two things: my relationships and my faith in something larger than life itself.

~~~~



Relationships, no matter where or how they develop are the true beauties/love in my life. And yes, my faith in something larger than life itself.

Beautiful thanks and great appreciation to all of you here.

Time is a gift, tend to it, care for it and never let time pass you by.


Much Love,
Julie
[Edited 11/18/04 10:27am]

Beautiful..and profound.. I love stories that speak to that realness of Life.

It reminds me of something I saw a long time ago on "Oprah"...they had a show about helping kids deal with the loss of a parent, and they had some children on the show along with the surviving parent and of course a host of experts.

At one point Oprah was talking to one little girl who's mom had passed away from an illness...she was maybe 9 or 10...and she asked the little girl what one of her fondest memories was of her mom (not in those exact words, but you get the idea..)...and this little girl's first and only response, was to talk about the times she would wake up in the middle of the night hungry, and go down to the kitchen...only to have her mom suddenly appear asking her why she was up...when she'd tell her mom she was hungry, her mom didn't tell her to get back into bed...instead, her mom smiled, pulled out two bowls...and poured them both some cereal, staying up at 2am to just sit and talk with her young daughter as they ate.

Oprah was close to tears as she watched a tape of that moment, and said to her audience to remember that it's not the toys or the vacations or all the "big" things you do for your kids that they'll cherish...it's those intimate moments you take advantage of which will live within their hearts and souls forever. I believe that to be true no matter what our age may be.

Thanks for sharing that, Julie...

Thank you Byron. ~Hugs


I love personal moments shared and the life lessons that follow...

All... share away, anytime... I watch, listen and yes... I feel you. ~Smile.

I better get busy with my day.

...

That's lovely.

I've had quite the 'emotional-rollercoaster' of a day. Today was a nice day to see this story

summerdawn said:

Great stories!! And so true.

More!