Heather Pillar, who is a wonderful photographer, happened to be photographing Morrie during his time with ALS, and she made a study of him, and ended up with some really beautiful pictures.  She sent her book, ‘Memento Morrie: Images of Love and Loss’ to me as a gift, and I started leafing through it. I had a feeling - I'm talking about finding a new ‘memento,’ long after someone has gone. There is a particular rush, a joy, that you cannot compare to anything else in life.

 

It is like being given a little moment back with the person that you lost after you have resolved that you will never have another moment with them again.

 

It doesn't change the dynamic- Morrie is still gone - but it rekindled the sense of being connected to him for real.

 

And there's so much to be learned from that moment. There's so much to be learned from the emotion that I had when I saw these photos. It brought back the feeling of Morrie all over again, because it's something new.

 

It's different from me picking up a copy of Tuesdays With Morrie. It's different from me looking at the photos that I have of me and Morrie.

 

One of Morrie’s aphorisms is: ‘Death ends a life but not a relationship’ But you have to invest in that relationship while you're here if you want it to go on.  Create memories and mementos with your loved ones so that you can enjoy them now and later on.

 

I hope that when a memento comes into your life, you feel the joy and connection to your loved ones.  Like this book came into my life by Heather Pillar, Memento Morrie, which is beautiful.   And a surprise that gave me that little rush of like, here's a little peek under the curtain again with Morrie, and isn't it great?

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