Caregiving: "how much love we put ..."

     Back over the Memorial Day weekend, I was tempted to stop answering the telephone. Tragic news can explode into your life like shock waves. Two calls informed me friends had died. One was 5 years older than me and the other 5 years younger.

    As the time of grief and memories ebb, death leaves behind a mirror reflecting questions about our own life.

     While preparing a eulogy,  I found peace in these lines attributed to Mother Theresa:

“It is not how much we do,

but how much love we put in the doing.

It is not how much we give,

but how much love we put in the giving.”

    One theme I found in my reflections is that death should be motivating for the living because we can still choose how much love we put into the next moments in time.