GARTH CALLAGHAN
“
I ’ ve stopped
thinking about how the world impacts me or I impact the world because it ' s too big .
Most people probably don ' t start thinking about their own mortality until much later in life . At that point they don ' t have the ability to change or to focus on the relationships that matter . One of the things I always have to remind people of is that I started writing napkin notes to my daughter for five or six years before my first cancer diagnosis . I recognized that there was this need to have more interaction and a better relationship with my daughter .
If my doctors came to me and said , " By the way Garth we made a mistake . You don ' t have cancer anymore . Go off treatment , do whatever ," I wouldn ' t change how I ' m going to live the rest of my life . I recognize that my physical being is a really short time . Any one of us can die tomorrow or this afternoon .
I ’ ve stopped thinking about how the world impacts me or how I impact the world because it ' s too big . I just need to share our story and write a note to Emma every day and everything else is going to take care of itself . I value the privilege to share our story . I share the interactions that Emma and I have had and how the notes have impacted our life . Then I let it be . People can take our story and hopefully use it to impact their own lives .
I ' ve had to mature and come to recognize that I am mortal like everybody else on the planet . But I just have it kind of up front and center in my life . On top of that , I still need to , every day , be a husband and a dad .
The past few years everything about me has changed . There was a time when I wasn ' t spiritually , mentally , or emotionally in a good place . I made a conscious decision to walk away from that path . I was always thinking about death . I was not able to project out into the future . It was impacting how I interacted with my family , not because I was actually avoiding a lot of family interactions , but because I had this shroud of death around me .
18 | ART OF DYING
“
GARTH CALLAGHAN
I’ve
stopped
thinking
about how
the world
impacts
me or I
impact
the world
because
it's too big.
18 | ART OF DYING
Most people probably don't start thinking about their
own mortality until much later in life. At that point
they don't have the ability to change or to focus on the
relationships that matter. One of the things I always
have to remind people of is that I started writing napkin
notes to my daughter for five or six years before my first
cancer diagnosis. I recognized that there was this need to
have more interaction and a better relationship with my
daughter.
If my doctors came to me and said, "By the way Garth
we made a mistake. You don't have cancer anymore.
Go off treatment, do whatever," I wouldn't change how
I'm going to live the rest of my life. I recognize that my
physical being is a really short time. Any one of us can die
tomorrow or this afternoon.
I’ve stopped thinking about how the world impacts me or
how I impact the world because it's too big. I just need to
share our story and write a note to Emma every day and
everything else is going to take care of itself. I value the
privilege to share our story. I share the interactions that
Emma and I have had and how the notes have impacted
our life. Then I let it be. People can take our story and
hopefully use it to impact their own lives.
I've had to mature and come to recognize that I am mortal
like everybody else on the planet. But I just have it kind of
up front and center in my life. On top of that, I still need
to, every day, be a husband and a dad.
The past few years everything about me has changed.
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