Making Every Moment Count

Natasha Richardson's death, the unexpected and random nature of her passing, is just one more lesson for all of us. As trite as it might sound, it is important that you do the things that are important, spend the precious time with the people who mean something to you, reach out and stay in touch with all of the ones that you cannot spend one-on-one time with. Of course, since I'm the one writing this, I include the precious pets that mean so much to us. I never take for granted that I am the lucky one to have Miller, Bailey and Fred in my life. I love my family, and would like to see some of them more. But I try as much as I can to stay in touch with the people that I have met and cared for over the years. I think we all need to be diligent about doing this, especially in light of what happened with this family. A family is now without its mother, a good man is without his beloved wife. A famous family has lost a cherished daughter, sister...and the world has lost a beacon of goodness in Natasha Richardson. I only recall ever seeing her in "Nell", but from what I have read, this was a very special person, someone who, along with her husband Liam Neeson, knew how to live life, knew what was important in life, and managed the balance living in New York and a small town upstate, raising their sons and keeping the hype and stupidity of the entertainment world in their dust. Such a horrible shame that this has happened.

I think that what I take away most from this tragedy is that the change I made in my life last year, choosing to downsize it, choosing to leave the rat race of consulting, moving to the mountains and my nice little town, and living a smaller life, a resultant richer life, was the right call. I have made a point of staying in touch with the important people in my life, though I know in some ways I could do better. I don't stay in touch with my brother the way I should, though that's not new. I need to be a little more pro-active with Sharon, as I know that her attention is taken up by her upcoming marriage to the dear Simon. I do keep in touch with a whole lot of people that I've met over my life and who have been important to me: to say that the internet, my blog, Facebook are modern-day wonders is an understatement.

But I still need to do better. I think that we all could do better. And I hope that everyone who has felt badly over the last few days over what has happened to Natasha Richardson, and understands how her family and close friends must be so shocked at what has transpired, should make that extra effort to contact folks in the days ahead and remind them how important they are. I truly hope that everyone who I stay in touch with understands that I do it because they have brought something special to my life. I feel lucky to have known such good people. Distance and time are no reason not to remember to tell people how special they are to you.

Finally, my last word on making every moment count. Work is not everything. I know that may seem easy for me to say as I live my downsized life, working my part-time job, and prepare for getting the vegetable garden going here in Willsboro. But Natasha and Liam definitely understood this. I understand that she was quite the gourmet cook and they worked hard to arrange their lives so that they could have dinner at their home, together as a family, as often as possible. I suspect that we saw less of Natasha in film because there were things that were far more important to her. I get the sense that though Liam Neeson and his children must be shocked, stunned by what has happened to them, that there was no regret that they did not live their life as they wanted, and that is certainly something to be grateful about. I want to believe this, and I do sense that it's true. So, please, please, think about what's important, and do something about it so that you can say that you are making every moment count.