I stared at the blank page nervously. The school assignment was to write your own obituary but how was I supposed to write a summation of my life when I hadn't even lived it yet? I looked to my left and right and saw people pouring paragraphs out of their pens. I tried to think of what I wanted to accomplish in my life but my crazily racing thoughts crashed into each other. I glanced back at my clean sheet of paper and my writer's block intensified. I tried to imagine the man I wanted to become but couldn't see him clearly. Looking up at the clock on the wall I saw that there were only fifteen minutes left in class. Finally, in a panic I scribbled down a few sentences of what I hoped someday to do and turned it in. Let's just say when I got the paper back it wasn't the highest grade I had ever gotten.

If I had that assignment to do over today, however, I think that my obituary would be even shorter. It would probably get me an F on the assignment, but it would get me an A in life. In fact, I would sum it up in two words: He Loved. To love is what I want to do today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life. To love is what living is all about. The rest is just details.

Everything about living well and good and right is wrapped up in the arms of love. To love is to serve, to give, to be kind, and to help others. To love is to have joy and to bring joy as well. To love is to make this world a better place just by being in it. To love is to create a little Heaven everyday while still here on Earth. To love is to be the wonderful child, caring parent, tender spouse, fantastic friend, and beautiful person that you have always wanted to be. To love is to become the bright, shining soul that God meant for you to become.

Fill your days with love then and you will have truly lived. Fill yourself with love and you will be the best possible you. Fill your life with love and your obituary will take care of itself.

~ Joseph J. Mazzella ~