Random Post 1 - A Good Life

What are the signs of a life, well-lived? Are they good health, loving children and grandchildren, a joyful and lasting marriage or partnership, acting in service of others, professional success? The answer depends on the individual, but there is one person in particular whose life managed to include all of the above.

My grandmother, Nora, moved in with my family in September of last year after receiving a late-stage cancer diagnosis. She passed away in February at the age of 93. It was a privilege to be able to see her as much as I did in that time, not only for the memories we made and the stories she shared, but for the perspective that it gave me about living a good life.

She was born in 1927 during the Coolidge administration. By the time she was my age she had lived through the Great Depression and World War II, so everything after that was smooth sailing. Shortly after graduating from UCLA, she married my grandfather, Hal, and had their first child. Nine years later, she had their second child: my mother, Bridget. My grandparents' marriage lasted for over sixty years. Both lived long enough to see their oldest grandchild get married, and Nora got to meet two of her great-grandchildren.

It's impossible to reduce 93 years into a series of books, let alone a single paragraph, but I include these details because they are signs of a life well-lived. I hope that we should all be so lucky.