Carpe diem sounds so easy when you have a lifetime ahead of you. It must feel bitter or maybe pointless when you know how many days you have left to live.

What is the point of waking up and working in the garden? I might not be here next spring to enjoy the blooms.

How can I enjoy the chat about next summer’s vacation? I might not be there to see it. 

Why should I share and feel for my grand-daughter? I won’t see her grow up anyway. 

It is hard not to judge or be hurt by those thoughts when you are on the receiving end. They cut through me like the sharpest blade. Yet I understand. 

I can only barely imagine the emotional pain of knowing, and not really being sure, not wanting to accept or to give up without a good fight, that your life is likely to end very soon.

Life becomes a roller coaster of good and bad days, of pain and relief, of bitter and sweet, of hurting and being hurt, of anger and despair. 

How can I help? You cannot.

Guillotine statement that cuts the tie between the ones who live and the ones who don’t. 

Don’t ask. Just be there. Give. Take. Enjoy every happy moment, ignore the rest.

Carpe diem!

— Inspired by life and “On Death and Dying” by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross