A Roadmap For Life

Throughout my childhood, I remember going on road trips every summer with my parents.  The 3 of us sat in that seatbelt-less bench seat of my dad’s Cadillac Eldorado as we traveled from Miami Beach to our home in North Carolina.  Because both of my parents were teachers, we had the same summer-long vacation. In order to escape the sweltering summer heat of Miami Beach, we would get in the car and drive to Beech Mountain, N.C.  Listening to Helen Reddy or Barry Manilow on the 8-track tape player are memories I will always cherish.

One of the best things about these road trips were the games that I would play in the car with my mom.  In the 1970’s and 1980’s, we were solely dependent on AAA to plan our trip.  Sometimes I’d play a game where I was the travel agent, and my mom pretended to be the customer coming into the office needing help planning her journey. One game could take hours to play! After all, charting one’s course takes guidance and concentration.

But what would we do without a roadmap? How would the destination be reached? This is the question I first faced at the age of 14 when my mom died.

Now what?

Where do I go?

How do I get there?

I thought about how we chart our course when something happens to cause us to lose our way. After all, every human being will face challenges differently. I would suggest a roadmap of Memento Mori to help navigate life’s route. Memento Mori challenges us to remember that life is fleeting...all of our moments matter. Charting our course in life, with our mortality in mind, can be a tremendous motivator. If YOU are reminded of the meaning of Memento Mori who you chart your course, it may be the difference between the mundane and the miraculous.