I came home one beautiful summer day to see movers taking all of my landlord’s stuff out of her apartment.  Now in her eighties, it was time to move to an assisted living facility as seeing the fire department here was somewhat of a regular occurrence.  She was lived alone and was smart.  I think she still should have had one of those pendants that you can use to call for help when you fall as she had so many close calls.

It’s so easy to forget that we won’t be here in this form on this planet forever.  I guess who really wants to think about that but I do feel it is important to do so.  For one, it can inform us of how we use the time we have.  I most likely have lived more than what I have left.  And even if I do have that many years ahead of me, then there is new element of aging which doesn’t come easy.  Birth, sickness, old age, death as Buddhism teaches us.  What do we do in between?

Years ago we had a fire in my family home.  With not much time to get out the only thing I took was our pets to safety.  Now I love my stuff, it is something that provides me with a sense of safety in an otherwise chaotic environment but the only thing that mattered was the love.  I love my animals and they have saved me many times.

I heard my landlady is very happy now without most of her stuff with her new environment and friends.  She is not lonely and she is taken care of.

We never know how much time we have but as long as we are creating, loving and living in gratitude then things are all right.