M. Reed McCall

The picture enclosed here is of a hibiscus that has been flowering in the parlor window one bloom at a time for what seems like a year or more. It__ getting to where I don__ remember when there wasn__ a bud or two and a flower either out or on the way.This morning there is a fresh new flower just like the one in the picture, but right next to it is the one that was new yesterday and is already spent. I don__ know whether to be happy for the beautiful one or sad for the one that is gone. I guess if I wait until tomorrow I can be sad for the one that is so beautiful now. But how can I anticipate being sad for something that is so pretty?It__ really a good thing that people can only __ee_ the present because we are on the same train as a hibiscus except that we are on a longer trip. I__e told you before but it fits in here so I will say it again. Sometimes I get feeling so good that I get afraid to anticipate the loss. If life could be a series of beautiful scenes and beautiful music and pleasant visits with people we love, then life should just go on forever. I suppose that__ why people get old and feeble with wandering minds. What is can end without too much loss, and what was did not stop so will be forever. Right now and as far as I can see, I want to be this morning__ flower. I__l be a hibiscus. You be a rose_

Don__ spend too much time grieving for me, Elena. I know you__e probably a little sad as you__e reading this, since that means I__ dead and you__e having to learn how to go on in a new way. I would be sad if you didn__ miss me, so I won__ tell you not to, but I will tell you to keep on living. The world is full of beautiful music, flowers, places, and experiences. Enjoy it all as much as you can. Just remember it__ the people in your life that make it worthwhile...People and memories, not things are what__ important in the end. Nothing else matters as much as that.