Someone I knew passed away last week. I know this happens and is always a sad event as you realize you will never see that person again in this lifetime. This one was special though. This person was far too young to die, but managed to squeeze as much as possible out of the short time left.

He ticked off his bucket list in spectacular manner and made sure that all friends knew they were appreciated and loved by him. He always had a smile for everyone, always trying to uplift and share happiness, despite his illness and suffering. The result was that everyone had huge respect and love for him. His life was celebrated with a massive party, featuring live music and spontaneous jam sessions, that felt more like a family reunion than a wake, and brought friends from all over together. There was a sad undercurrent, especially for his closest relatives and partner, but the emotions I felt most, were love and determination to let his legacy live on. To live life as he did, not dwelling on sadness, but living in “radness”, because you never know when your time comes. It made me think about the value of all relationships in our lives and the effect we have on the people we interact with, whether they are relatives or acquaintances.

I contemplated the importance of uplifting rather than complaining and making sure that when our time comes to an end, we leave a legacy that will inspire and be beneficial for all left behind. This is what makes us immortal, for we live on in our legacy! This is the “butterfly effect” in action.

This morning I found a friends post on Face Book as follows:

“I’m going to be watching to see who cares about friendship. Thank you for being a part of my life! So, if you read this, leave ONE WORD as to how we met. . DON’T SHARE!! . Once you respond, if it’s the right answer, I will inbox you this post to post on your wall. Only one word!”

I normally ignore those posts that you see all the time calling for attention that only serves to satisfy the ego’s neediness, but after the above event I could not resist responding to show my friend that I did indeed read his posts and cared. The result was that I had to repost it of course. I felt a little annoyed at this, bothering my friends on Face Book, and explained to my friend in PM that I’d only do it for him and not because I thought it was a good reflection of how many people read my posts, knowing that most will ignore to comment for a variety of reasons, that do not include lack of love.

How wrong I was! I am unsure if the fact that I added a small vague sentence at the start referring to the earlier event that made me realize the importance of relationships had anything to do with it, or whatever the reasons were, but I was blown away with the amount of friends that responded! The words they left brought back so many happy memories! Not only that, but I ended up talking/typing with an old friend on the other side of the world, who I had not spoken to for decades, in PM for half an hour, before we decided to continue talking on Skype for another hour and a half!

This made my day and I can’t help but think that this all resulted from the legacy of a friend who knew what is really important in life, which is not what you do for a living, the car you drive or the clothes you wear! It is how you appreciate and interact with the people you encounter in your life!

I am so Glad to have the friends and family I have! Thank you all for sharing the love and experiences together, because that is what will be remembered and valued most in the end!

With gratitude, Pollyesther

P.S. Feel free to share your thoughts on this in the comments.