By George, I miss him!

While I don't always like watching the nightly news (too much negative stuff coming at me from that little box), I'd have to have been living under a rock to not hear word of the deaths of Tim Russert and George Carlin. And yes, I did catch that pathetic picture of icon Paul Newman outside his apartment door, looking like, well, death warmed over.

Yet it strikes me that I don't know these people, but I mourn their passing and their changes. Why, like thousands of others around the world, do I tear up when I see an interview or read a quote from them about their lives?

When a public figure dies that loss triggers a memory in us. No, not so much about that person, but instead, about what was happening in our lives at the time. For example, my ex and I attended a George Carlin concert about four years ago. The death notice about Carlin instantly took me back to the concert I enjoyed with my mate and then, bam!, to the slow and painful death of that relationship.

And Tim Russert's death reminded me of all the journalists and media folks I have had the pleasure to work with through the years. No, we weren't best friends, but we shared a profession that we felt pride in and had an unspoken bond about. His death had me thinking about all others in the profession who, on behalf of the average citizen, just try to produce the truth and understanding.

Then there's Paul Newman. I like his salad dressing and his movies. So did my mom. Seeing him battling cancer cut to the core of my memories of mom withering away to the influence of chemo and radiation. And seeing his now-gaunt frame reminds us how we all change and how those changes, and death, are inevitable.

And so we miss them and mourn our own losses. It's human. And moving through it is fairly simple. In fact, visit my web site at http://www.life-preservers.org/ to sign up for my free Ezine, In the Flow, and you'll get some tips on how to manage your 'celebrity mourning and memories.

Finding Grace

As I completed my journaling for today and moved on to my meditation time, I picked up the Daily Word for today.

"June 11," I thought. "Something happened around this time that I should remember."

I knew that the birthday of a once-dear friend had just passed about four days ago and, while I had thought of her, this seemed bigger.

Duh. It was 21 years ago today that my mom died.

The Daily Word for today starts off with "Blessed by the ever-present grace of God, I live life fully."

That's what I have been doing and intend to do for the rest of my life. Mom's death and ultimate last lesson to me was that life is short and we do need to value each moment.

And most days, I have done it with grace.

So how do you do it? How do you move through your days of loss with grace? I'd like to hear about it.

Graduating

I don't even have to leave my house and I feel it. Do you?

It's the anticipation of hundreds of school children as they prepare to be released from the confines of the hallowed halls and move forward into summer. I remember the sense of freedom I felt on that last day of school and how I eagerly looked forward to three months of 'doing nothing.'

That was, until my senior year of high school. Then I experienced the whole range of emotions: excitement, fear, anticipation and sadness. There was much to look forward to, but at the same time I was sad to leave my familiar surroundings and my friends.

Can you relate? And don't those feelings follow us through all the stages of our lives? We "graduate" to a new job, a new city, a new relationship, a new religion and a new outlook on life. Good or bad, we are constantly coping with little losses all the time.

So how to handle that awareness? For me, I allow each moment to flow, giving thanks for the people and experiences who have led me to this point in time. Then I turn my attention forward to what I want to create next. The memories are always with me, but I have "graduated" to the next step of the journey.

It is only a moment.