Live in the Present
One of the most beautiful descriptions of grief I've ever heard was from Owen Stanley Surman, M.D., a practicing hospital psychiatrist who lost his wife and wrote a memoir about it, The Wrong Side of an Illness: A Doctor's Love Story. In my interview with him awhile back, I asked him how, exactly, does a person concentrate on the moment and know that love is a precious gift not to be taken for granted. He explained:
"In Lezlie's passing, I began to live in the present. Tragedy had cast a spotlight on the beauty of life and the power of love. In Swan's Way, I learned from Marcel Proust that the past resides in what one has shared in love. Lezlie was with me. Given an opportunity to present at a conference in Jerusalem I explored the Via Dolorosa. At the 12th Station of the Cross, I gazed at the extraordinary crucifix and lit a candle. 'Lezlie,' I said amid an outpouring of soul wrenching tears, 'This one is for you!'"