Today is March 18 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “If you were dying, could you give away your love?”
Those who navigate the chaos like Amy Krouse Rosenthal know that life ultimately ends and in that moment there are even opportunities to remind others just how precious each breath is.
Rosenthal was a children’s book author, memoirist and public speaker who published “You May Want to Marry My Husband,” in The New York Times just 10 days before dying of ovarian cancer.
The March 3, 2017 column had over four and a half million readers online in the first week after its release.
She wrote the column as a paean to her husband of 26 years Jason Brian Rosenthal.
Rosenthal wrote “I want more time with Jason. I want more time with my children. I want more time sipping martinis at the Green Mill Jazz Club on Thursday nights. But that is not going to happen. I probably have only a few days left being a person on this planet. So why I am doing this? I am wrapping this up on Valentine’s Day and the most genuine, non-vase-oriented gift I can hope for is that the right person reads this, finds Jason, and another love story begins.”
Her husband said in a statement afterward, “When I read her words for the first time, I was shocked at the beauty, slightly surprised at the incredible prose given her condition and, of course, emotionally ripped apart.”
She ended her paean with I’ll leave this intentional empty space below as a way of giving you two the fresh start you deserve.”
And with that in mind, I will leave this intentional empty space as a moment of silence for her death.
American author and motivational speaker, Leo Buscaglia, also known as Dr. Love, noted “Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time. It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.”
As you go about your day, consider asking yourself if you were dying, could you rise to the challenge of death, not waste time, and give away your love?