A friend – a very funny, smart comic – whom I met many years ago when I lived in Boston passed away recently from cancer. I would see him at auditions in LA and we would talk and laugh way past the time we went in the “room”. He was a kind, sweet family man with a lovely wife and handsome son (he was always showing me pictures of them). I knew he had cancer but when I heard the news I was so taken off-guard, so surprised that this amazing life force was no longer here that I cried for a long time.

I read some things he had written about his journey and I read an article written by his friend who talked about the discoveries my friend had made; how he found true compassion and love and meaning in the small things; how he was able to feel loved and taken care of. It was so moving that this man suffering, in pain could look past all that and see so many things to be grateful for on his incredibly challenging path. I felt truly in awe of the grace through which he lived especially this past year.

Deep sadness –

– a sadness made up of reflections of the years gone by, of the speed at which life travels, at unspoken goodbyes and because I feel that anything I write will comparatively be… well… trite… meaningless…

Then I remember the Rumi quote:

“Put your thoughts to sleep,
do not let them cast a shadow
over the moon of your heart.
Let go of thinking.”

So… I look to the moon. I let go of thinking and instead I embrace a greater truth that even the small stories, the tiny moments of grace, the instants of waking up have their place. That my writing and your reading is a conversation that can have greater implications and broader discoveries. That to touch someone can happen in a moment with a word, with a share. So I keep on writing the stories, as I thank Steve for all the laughter.