Love.

Love is the answer. What was the question?

What matters in this life? What is truly important? What heals us and takes away our pain? What brings us together? What carries us when we cannot take another step? What fills our cup? What is the only thing we can take with us when we pass to the next life?

Love. As I sat here on Christmas day, and looked into the faces of my family, of those people I love, I realized that they are what truly matters. Being with them, enjoying their company, laughing, sharing, caring, loving. If all the presents went away, the lights, the trees, the stockings and bows, as long as my family remained, then my day, my life, would be complete. Love is what carries us through each day. And I realized, as I face this illness which may very well take my life, that it is the love that I will take with me, it is the love that I will leave behind. My eulogy will not be filled with my accomplishments or my work ethic, I will be remembered for my acts of kindness, for sharing my deepest love with my family, with my friends and for showing that love to all those I come in contact with. It is the love that will fill me up and carry me to the other side, and it is the love that will I leave behind as my memory.

I say this not to be maudlin, or to fill your heart with heaviness, but to give you insight as you live your life into what is truly important and where your focus should rest. I am no giver of great wisdom, nor am I a philosopher, but I am in unique position that I would not wish upon any of you; while still very young I am facing my own mortality. When I look at my life and see my possible demise on the not so distant horizon, it makes me begin to really think about what matters in this life, and what I want to leave behind in this world when I travel to the next. The word that keeps coming back to me over and over again is love.

Love is the answer to all of your questions. Take it with you wherever you go. Leave it behind everywhere you pass through. For love is the one truth that cannot be denied.

My love I give to you, my love I leave with you. Take it with you through all your days and in all your travels. It will serve you well.