Ampersand Answers: Loving Life

I have found that if you love life,

Life will love you back.

Arthur Rubenstein
MEInk 2.17.26 

The Question: 

How can I learn to love life? 

&mpersand Answers: 

My Jewish grandmother surely loved life, but she also loved, perhaps equally, to complain. You had to dig deep to find the love of life. 

I don’t think it’s possible to love life in itself. It’s too big a job. But I do think it’s not only possible, but desirable, to love bits of life, whether they’re moments or things or people or melodies. 

The key to loving life is remembering those moments, things, people, or melodies.  

Here’s one of mine. I was in the hospital, and my nurse, Kate, tore into my room to fill out a questionnaire so I could have the last MRI scheduled on a Friday. Time was of the essence. She threw herself into one of the chairs and started to fire questions at me. All pretty routine until she asked, “Have you had any penile implants?” 

I froze. My husband froze. The nurse realized what she’d asked. And my husband said to the nurse, gasping through gales of laughter, “Kate, you broke me.” Well, of course, we all fell out. 

See? Moments. Walking the labyrinth in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Finishing a particularly difficult crossword puzzle. A special sweater. 

And as you accumulate these memories of love, they tend to grow together, and soon enough, you’ll find you’re loving a lot more about life, and then, because love is what it is, life starts to love you back.

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