Image by Joshua Schwimmer via FlickrIn early July of 2011 (a month ago), I spent a few days in Oslo for a conference; walked the streets where the bomb would explode a few weeks later.
In the past 45 days, I've lost a lifelong friend's little brother, a friend from high school who fought bravely for years against breast cancer and a beloved uncle who always had advice to give and a joke to tell.
So I ask again, "Death, are you following me?"
This weekend I thought about the words that I would have wanted to share if I was to suddenly find myself in a difference place and on a different path.
Do not mourn for what I meant to be,
I lived fully and experienced much.
Do not wonder of my regret,
I learned more from failure than success.
Do not think I never found love,
I always had you in my heart.
Mourn briefly for the smiles my life gave to you
Over the perfect flavors of wine and thought.
And set about to live one day of your life like mine,
By coddling nomadic dreams
To experience something new--
A culture, a coffee, a conversation.
Soulfully wondering over questions
That we were never able to answer--
That we never cared to answer--
Because we learned always to love the journey
And the destination...
When we happened upon it.
And if answers should fall upon your lap,
Send them back to me on the sea
And laugh once you realize
They may have come to you
From me.
