Sunday Gratitude: The Depth of Life

Yesterday I attended the Celebration of Life for the sister of a childhood friend. Christine was a single mom and 51 years old when she passed away suddenly, leaving two daughters, one in high school and one in college. I sat next to a high school bestie who lives in Brookline and yet we see each other every four years or so. Because…life and five kids between us, and track and soccer and…

One of the quotes our friend tearfully said about her sister, who sounded like someone I really wish I had known, was from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.” One can always hope that we achieve both–and many do. The last time I had been in that First Parish Church of Concord, it had been for the memorial service of George Bates, WFTA and Conservation titan, who it must be said, achieved both by the time he passed away at 86.

At the reception afterwards, we talked with a cross-country team friend we had not seen since he graduated two years ahead of us, thirty years ago.

And we laughed about stories remembered one way by one of us, completely differently by another, and the connection is still there. I had an incredible childhood and high school experience in New Canaan and once in a while, I remember why. and with whom it was amazing.

As one of Christine’s daughters said, her mom would not want people to live less because she was gone. Live deeply and celebrate life. My Sunday Gratitude: reminders, remembrances and deeply living.