Today I have been feeling quite nostalgic. This is due in part to the news that the remains of my "aunt," (second cousin, really) had been returned to us after she donated her body to science. She will now be cremated and her ashes laid to rest in her family plot. This woman led a very genteel life. Sheltered and safe, she was well loved by many people for her entire 90 years. She rarely traveled, never wore pants, never drank a soda out of a can, never drove a car, operated a computer or owned a microwave. She never married or really even dated. She never flew in an airplane. And yet she had this compulsion to donate her body to science. It seemed like a wild thing for her do, so brave! I loved her deeply and miss her sorely. And I admire her to my toes.
Thinking of her made me think of my parents and grandparents and sister, all gone as well. And that made me think of the grief one feels when someone special leaves this earth. And THAT made me look back, through the frame of my experiences and realize that when I lose someone, what I feel the most is regret. I regret the things I didn't say, and the time I didn't take. I regret the calls I didn't make.
Thankfully I am a person who usually learns from past errors. I believe that I have learned to tell the people in my life that I love them, often. And more than that, I think I do a decent job at showing them, too. Days like today help me narrow my focus... and remember how important it is to me to have few regrets.
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