“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae WestTwenty years ago, I was lucky enough to witness the humble, elegant, peaceful passing of my 89-year-old grandfather.
As I sat quietly in his hospice room alongside my grandma and other family members, his nurse smiled softly and said, “I can see he lived well.
People his age often pass just the way they lived.”And as I drove home that evening a couple questions kept cycling through my mind…“Am I living well?”“What do I want to be able to smile about on the inside when I’m on my deathbed?”These questions are tough, especially the second one.
At the time, I desperately struggled to envision myself on my deathbed — just thinking about it stressed me out. So I simply avoided the question and the soul searching it demanded of me.