The Meaning of Life

During my lunch hour yesterday, I rushed home to get my car cleaned. I was stressed because I had a time constraint and stressed because there were many other things I needed to get done in that hour long respite from work. I had to stop by my apartment to grab something and hustled up the stairs. I saw an Amazon package sitting on my porch and I was totally perplexed. I didn't think I was expecting anything from Amazon, but here was this package. Something felt weird about it. Then I looked at the sender.



The sender was none other than the family of Eric Obermann, whom I mentioned in the previous post. I caught my breath as I realized that whatever was in this package was going to render me emotionally heavy for the rest of the day. Then I knew exactly what it was.



I opened the box with the usual excitement one gets from opening a package that contains an item you already know and expect, and there was the book. The book was titled "The Meaning of Life" which is a collection of essays by many different people regarding what is truly meaningful and what makes a life worth living. This was the book I read with Eric. This was the book I left behind half on accident/half on purpose. This was the book I loved but had made peace with losing about a year ago.



Along with the book was a card from Eric's mother. It was a truly beautiful card written during a time of immense grief (I don't know how she did that), and at the end she said that life is made up of those moments where you show tiny acts of love.


Tiny acts of love.



Such wisdom from such a woman who has lived such a life. By sending me the book, the newspaper from the day Eric died when he was on the cover, and the copy of the memorial service, she showed me love beyond all words. In her time of grief, she continues to love. She continues to show her tiny acts of love which truly do make up a full and meaningful life.



So I went on with the rest of my day, but Eric and his family were not far from my thoughts. They have been near me almost every minute over the past few weeks, and their love for each other and for humanity truly inspires me.



What a blessing...