I posted this note on Facebook in response to someone freaking out the fact they’re going to die (recently diagnosed with stage 3 cancer),

and as someone who has been close to death many times and come back —.and each time not knowing whether I was going to come back — I have to say people waste waaaaay too much time and energy getting upset about the fact they’re going to die.

We are all going to die, and yes, some of us sooner than later, but how do you want to spent those last moments? How do you want your loved ones to remember you? Freaking out over how unlucky you are and how awful it is to be dying, or to remember you for savoring every moment you can, while you were putting up a good fight to stay alive?

My best friend died when we were 6 years old of cystic fibrosis (very common where I grew, so I had a few friends die of this disease before they were 18 years),

and Samantha and David never knew what it was like to be kissed or to fall in love or the beauty and pain of having a child or the satisfaction we feel when we graduate from high school and college — they never got to experience any of that —

Of course I’m upset my dreams were smushed by my serious health problems, and of course I want to live as long as I can,

But if I died tonight in my sleep, I would want everyone in my life to know I died a very lucky woman, to know how much I loved them and how grateful I was for all of the things so many people did to help me fight my serious illnesses for many years, at times a desperate fight to keep me alive for as long as I did live —. not just friends, but doctors, nurses, even the security guard at Cedars and his friendly “I hope you’re feeling well today”, all helped to keep me going —

Perhaps I’ve just been around sickness too long for me to relate to ‘normal’ people, but people screaming about their fact they’re gonna die is missing the point of what it means to actually live.

Live gratefully, be humble, be generous, and be thankful — every breath is a gift, a gift none of us are entitled to—a gift nature has blessed us with. Don’t take it for granted. ❤️

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