This month marks a year since my one year to live project came to an end. And a year since my close childhood friend Marisa died of metastatic breast cancer…. I have some good news to share. I’ve just come back from Marisa’s brother & sister-in-law’s baby shower. Marisa would have been an amazing aunt to this little one, and I like to imagine her smiling at all of us.

I spent the past couple of days noting how often my children laugh. They’re awesome at it (most of the time). Giggles turn into cracking up, which turns into unstoppable belly laughs. And just when you think they’re done, it starts all over again. I want to recapture this sense of lightness. I want to be amazed by subtlety, and to be reminded not to take this waning life too seriously.

Deb and I have known each other for nearly 30 years. When you know someone that long, you begin to turn into sisters. If all of my goodbyes are as hard as this one, I’ll drown in a sea of tears before my final year is out.