THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

 

From Linda Lee Greene Author/Artist

 

“The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down on these notes, [and] on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, for the future which is in store for him? ‘No, thank you’ he will think. ‘Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these are things which cannot inspire envy’.” – Viktor E. Frankl, MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING, pg 124-125.

            December 8 – 10, 2018 was the date of my initial reading of Frankl’s iconic book, which chronicles his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi Concentration Camps during World War II. That December of 2018, I was at the lovely Palm Harbor, Florida home of my kid sister Susan (Suzee) attending to her however possible in the final days of her life. She passed twelve days after I closed the last page of Frankl’s book. I read the book again recently and was struck anew by the paragraph cited above. The paragraph strikes me not only because of the wisdom imparted in it, but also because it recalls to me one of Suzee’s most endearing qualities, and one of her most enduring qualities, as it turns out.

            Suzee was an avid writer of personal journals. Following her death, other members of my family and I sorted through her personal effects for their appropriate dissemination. For instance, as a voracious reader, over the years Suzee had amassed an impressive library, and one of our tasks was to annotate in her name dozens of her books, which we donated to the hospice facility that had seen her through her last hours. In addition, we were astounded to find journals dating from her teenage years right up to a month before her death. She had turned 63 only three months before. Alongside the journals tucked away in numerous trunks and boxes was every letter, card, and memento she had received dating from her childhood to her final days.  

            Currently, this written treasure trove of Suzee’s life is stored away in my sister Sherri’s garage. Sherri has been going through it and separating it into individual boxes for further distribution: a box for herself, one for me and other members of our family, as well as Suzee’s friends. In the process, Sherri is stopping to read much of it. “Oh, Linnie,” Sherri expresses to me over the phone. “Through Suzee’s journals and letters, I’m reliving so much of our family history and even world history that I had forgotten. What a legacy she has left us!” The exercise is turning out to be a “This is Your Life” experience for Sherri, as well.

As Frankl tells us, a look back on our personal history can fill us with pride and joy on all the richness and all the life we have already lived to the fullest, and as Suzee shows us, the ones we leave behind can also call to memory forgotten but nonetheless precious history we made together and shared. That is one beautiful gift.©

 

Image: Susan Renee Greene in the 1980s

 

#ViktorEFrankl, #Man’sSearchForMeaning, #Journaling, #Diaries, #FamilyHistory, #FamilySaga, #LifeAndDeath, #SusanReneeGreene