The other day my mother asked me a question, originally asked by Nora Ephron. Nora knew that she was dying of cancer and asked the question: What would you miss when you died other than things like family, friends, and pets? At first I didn't understand why you wouldn't include things such as your relationships with the ones you love. But I understand now that it's meant to make you thing about the little everyday things that you would miss. It had me thinking; what things would I miss?
For me, and for most people I believe it would be the things you don't tend to think about too often. Like listening to someone you love's heartbeat. As a child I used to sit on my grandfather's lap and listen to his heart and his artificial valve in his heart that sounded like a clock: tick, tick, tick.
I would miss learning, and that feeling understanding a material gives you. I would miss giving my family my "fun facts of the day" and all of us learning something new.
I would also miss the smell of a leather softball glove mixed with dirt. To me nothing is more calming than that smell. It meant summers and springs with girls I grew up with and became like sisters to me.
I would miss the smell of clean sheets, watching autumn leaves fall as you stand amongst the trees, the sound of snow at night on a very quiet day hitting the ground.
I would miss driving with the windows down on a beautiful day with the music up. It reminds me of the laughter shared with my friends and the adventures we had.
I would miss the feeling of a hot shower, or the sun warming your skin as you lay on the ground, with the grass tickling your skin.
I would miss that feeling in your chest that I have now as I write. This excitement, this rush, this feeling of being completely swallowed by what you're writing. It is beautiful.
I would miss the stars at night, a good nap, the feeling of turning the pages of a book, the smell of an old bookshop, learning something new, writing a letter, keeping a journal, a good meal with people you love.
I would miss that feeling of excitement when doing something you know you want to do for the rest of your life. Like watching an open heart surgery and not being able to take your gaze away from the table, or counting the heartbeats of Daphnia under a microscope.
I would miss even the hard times and anxiety in life because those feelings of dread, sadness or anger as well as the joyful feelings because those feelings show that you are truly alive.
In the long run, it's small things that build together to assemble who you are as a person. So, what about you? What would you miss?
