Live like you are dying

Kris Radish writes books about women's stories and their relationships with each other.  There is nothing quite like the sisterhood of women.  We empower one another.  My favorite book by this author is ANNIE FREEMAN'S FABULOUS TRAVELING FUNERAL.  This is what she says about the book.  "This book, which some might think is about dying, is really about living.  It is for any woman - every woman - who has ever lost something or someone she loved and then grieved, touched the sorrowful edges of her own soul, embraced the heart of loss and then moved forward." 

The story begins with a middle aged woman receiving a UPS package from a very dear friend who had died a couple of months earlier.  In the box was a pair of red high topped sneakers and in the sneakers was the ashes of the dear friend, Annie Freeman.  Along with the sneakers was a letter of instructions.  Annie had been sick for months before finally succumbing to cancer.  During that time she had ample opportunity to review her life.  She had been one of the lucky few who died with no regrets.  She was an intellegent high spirted woman who embraced life.  She did not want a traditional funeral.  Her final request was to have a traveling funeral and she had chosen five of her girlfriends to serve as pallbearers.  From her bed, Annie had prearranged all the unusual funeral arrangements.  She had rented a red convertible cadallac for the ladies to travel in to the specified locations.  Locations the ladies would find were significant to making Annie the special lady that she had been.  Annie's ashes were to be sprinkeled at each designated place.  As the five women travel across the country they shared their deepest secrets, tales of broken hearts, second chances, missed opportunities and new beginnings.  As they grieve over what they've lost, they discover how much is still possible.

Annie was like Les, too sick to get out and whoop it up like it is suggested in Tim McGraw's song, LIVE LIKE YOU ARE DYING.  Both Kris and Tim's stories are fictional yet they do give us food for thought.  I have been changed by the loss of a loved one.  I no longer celebrate only the special holidays.  I celebrate life every day.  So if you knew you were dying do you know what you would do with those last days, those last hours?  It's not too late to discover the possibilities.  Don't wait too long.  It's sooner than you think.