My Cute Memento Mori

FABLES FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN
READING TIME: 1 minute

When I started dating Keith, I was on fire with huge, world-changing plans for my life. Keith, on the other hand, had no plans. Instead, he was preparing to die. It was the time of the Vietnam War. In a few months, he would be 18 and eligible for the draft. (That’s a whole different story I’ll tell you sometime, but, for now, let’s just say he was unscathed). 

Before and after that period, Keith was comfortable with his life ending. Death abided with Keith - not like a dark cloud over his head, but more like a bird on his shoulder. 

He has always taken life as it comes, forever reminding me “we could die soon” or “you never know which day will be your last.” It was maddening at first. I feared death to my core, especially after I became a mother and had little people’s survival at stake. I cried, I ranted, I pouted. “Why do you wreck every good moment with your death fixation,” I’d demand. And he’d calmly say, “I’m sorry, but it’s true.” 

He has been and still is my ever present memento mori.

Gradually, over decades, death became a kind of fuel for me too. It made me more mindful, purposeful, and thankful. As we live, without realizing it, we die every moment. That moment of life gone and irretrievable. Dead. We die moment by moment.

Each morning, I write in my daily calendar: “Lost Time is Never Found Again.” It inspires me to really live the day, knowing that day will be dead tomorrow — knowing today might be my last. Yours too, Sweetheart. So live today with that in mind. It will make you kinder, more thankful, and help you make better choices - the ones that are important to you. 

I love you,
Granny

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