Do you ever have those moments, where your heart starts pounding? Where your chest feels so tight you can hardly breathe? Where you realize for just a split second, that some day you’ll have to say good-bye. Good-bye to your kids. Good-bye to the beautiful fall colors. Good bye to the sound of the birds in the morning or the cold wind on your windows.

If I had to say good-bye, how would I do it? What would I say? What would matter? I have one word (other than the obvious one – “love”) – its connections. When we go, we really just leave behind those we touch through our life long or brief connections.

This week I went out on a limb and asked a man to lunch who I’d admired from afar. He’s done some really amazing things in his career and I wanted to meet him. I emailed him to see if he could spare time for a cup of coffee. We had lunch yesterday. It was fascinating. I could write a blog about the cool things he’s done – but the really amazing part was that I connected one-on-one with another person. I heard his story and he heard mine. My life will now be a bit different just from that one meeting.

When I go, the only people who will remember me will be those I connected with. People will remember the love and passion that I lived and breathed. They will not remember the paint peeling from my garage door. They will remember my joy in running – they will not remember the place I got in a particular triathlon.

Last night, I found a blog post by a woman. By the time her post was published, she was dead. She had little kids and a husband. Her post was her good-bye:

“[I]n my absence, please, please, enjoy life. Take it by both hands, grab it, shake it and believe in every second of it. Adore your children. You have literally no idea how blessed you are to shout at them in the morning to hurry up and clean their teeth.

Embrace your loved ones and if they cannot embrace you back, find someone who will. Everyone deserves to love and be loved in return. Don’t settle for less . . . True, honest, strong friendships are an utter blessing and a choice we get to make, rather than have to share a loyalty with because there happens to be link through blood. . . . Life has a lot of grey and sadness – look for that rainbow and frame it. There is beauty in everything, sometimes you just have to look a little harder to see it . . . So, that’s it from me. Thank you so much for the love and kindness you’ve shown in your own little ways over the last 36 years.”

With that I wish you an amazing and thoughtful day and weekend. We will never have this same day again – so please, my friends, enjoy it.