Spelled with a space in between, we all know what “take away” means. To subtract. To snatch away.
Two of my lovely friends have been taken from me this year: Lisa Wolfson (LK Madigan) and Bridget Zinn. They died just three months and two days apart.
So what are the takeaways from their deaths?
- Save more emails. Email storage is pretty much free these days. When I heard the news about Bridget, I tried to find my most recent emails with her, where we had talked about the lovely cherry tree in her yard and how considering the structure of The Princess Bride might help her as she worked on final edits for Poison. I can find scattered emails back from the last two and a half years, but that’s it. Which was so stupid of me. It’s not like I didn’t know Bridget would not be around forever. I remember doing the same thing after Lisa had died, wishing I had had more of her emails.
-Take more photos. Barrett took a photo of me and Bridget at a signing, but I can’t find it on my own hard drive. I could only find it on her blog. I don’t have any other pictures of Bridget, not ones that I took anyway. The only photos I have of me and Lisa have other people in them. I always feel silly posing for photos or asking others to smile. Silliness be damned!
-Get together more. How many times have I turned down an invitation because I was on deadline? I’m sure I would have met my deadline. But those events have come and gone and can never been recreated. I need to honor life more than I honor my schedule.
- Talk about love. Lisa phoned a few days before her death. In the course of our conversation, I told her I loved her, and she said it back to me. I told her I didn’t often say that to people outside my family, but I did love her. I still didn’t know how to say goodbye, because I knew it would be the last time I talked to her. How do you end it? So I said "Talk to you later." And that was that. But I'm glad to have said “I love you” to her, even she already knew I did.
- Refocus. I will always remember a conversation I had with Bridget. She had been talking to someone who had been complaining about something small, but which she had let ruin her whole day. Bridget said she had to bite her tongue, that she wanted to say, “Well, did someone tell you today that you are dying from cancer? No? Then you are having a good day.”
- Don’t waste time. How much time do I waste? Conversely, how often do I put off doing something I enjoy (like reading) because I haven’t “earned it” yet?
And what are the takeaways from their lives?
- Bridget and Barrett found excuses for parties. I still remember the “Fatten Bridget Up for Chemo Party.” They also got married several times and celebrated what they called “The Summer of Love.”
- Lisa went to so many signings. If a YA author came to town, chances were good she was there and buying at least one book.
- Bridget and Barrett made even small things beautiful. Take this picnic they ate one of the last times she was hospitalized. If it were me, I would probably be staring at some bland institutional plate of food, not even considering how I could have something better.
- Lisa reached to other authors, especially new authors. She focused on them in her blog and spread her joy at finding a great new book. She even called bookstores in other states when her online friends were having their launch parties and ordered a signed copy or two to be shipped back to her.
I was driving through Eastern Oregon over Memorial Day weekend. And I saw the rolling hills and rocks formations through my friend’s eyes. How much more beautiful they would be if you knew your days were numbered? But I’m kidding myself. We are all dying. Our days are numbered, and we don’t know how long they will be.
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