Disregard the Ides of March
If We Live Fully, Life is Beautiful!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 42 seconds
The icy March wind made my nose feel like it would freeze and fall off before I could return home.
Despite the chill, I took a break by Jan’s soul sister’s bench to gaze upon the river.
The Rahway River flowed steadily on its journey to the sea. On some days, it has an icy coating; on others, the banks are full of neighbors fishing.
I turn to face Jan’s bench and remember the adage about living and rivers as best I can.
Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of your life.
If only I could step into the river and return to a time when Jan and I walked this path in Hanson Park.
We cannot recapture the past in life or the river’s flowing waters, as time only goes forward.
But we can achieve a life worth living.
As much as the past was full of happy days, we also had sad moments.
We can and must shape the future to experience both joy and the shedding of tears.
Yesterday, after five years away, I signed up for my return trip to The Hill. It may not rival three hundred people at a Congressional Reception, but it will be a day of action.
As much as I wish Jan was still with me, I choose to live fully and embrace whatever the future brings. Like life, Jan and I shared a beautiful love!
The Jan Lilien Education Fund sponsors ongoing sustainability and environmental awareness programs. Gifts made this month; I will match dollar-for-dollar. All donations are tax-deductible.
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Although I focused on what I had lost in the initial hours and days after Jan died, the only way forward was to focus on what I gained, not what I lost.
My addition calculation begins with Merrit Malloy's poem Epitaph, which was read at Jan's funeral and will be a part of mine.
Love doesn't die, People do. So, when all that's left of me Is love, Give me away.
