A Beautiful Day

My copy of Tuesday's With Morrie is worn, with partial sentences underlined, some even highlighted. I wanted to imprint into memory all of the insightful nuggets, the simple truths leaping from the pages. Toward the end of the story, Mitch Albom asks Morrie what he would do if he had one perfectly healthy day. When I read the book for the first time, I really couldn't appreciate the beautiful response. Morrie's ideal day was average, simple, nothing extraordinary. Exercise, breakfast, time spent with friends. A nature walk. Dinner with dancing, maybe some duck. I like that, an unadorned day. After spending endless hours nursing my back, I can see why Morrie would have sketched out an effortless day. I don't think I would fly to Paris, shop for endless hours at Nordstrom, or even have breakfast with Harrison Ford. No, my day is looking more and more like Morrie's. An average twenty-four hours, sprinkled with family and friends. A great walk in the park and a wonderfully written book. A slice of key-lime pie. Perhaps a purple-throated hummingbird to catch me by surprise. Reading Goodnight Moon to my grandchildren, wiping drool from their chins. As Morrie says, "You live on in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here." Take me into the beautiful.