Living for two can be done at any age or level of healing and for any reason. Although my adventures are more celebratory now, honoring your loved one can go a long way in speeding up your grieving and healing process, as you are about to see…
You may have heard of a 12-year-old boy named Aaron from Lexington Park, MD. Aaron now lives for two as a way to get over his grief. He lost his twin brother, Eric, to brain cancer when the boys were just nine years old.
“From the womb, Aaron and Eric were inseparable,” their mother Angela told Nate Berkus for a taping on Oprah’s show. “On the sonogram we saw once, they were holding hands.” The children did everything together and the loss of his brother caused Aaron to sink into a debilitating depression in which he lost the will to live.
Her insightful pediatrician, Dr. Corder, did not prescribe medication, as many doctors would have. Instead, he asked Aaron, “What do you like to do?” When he replied that she liked to cook, she said, “Let’s cook for your brother.” She gave Aaron $20 and, as her first investor, asked him for a business plan. Her mother says the change was immediate. She “was grinning from ear to ear” on the way home. She made a shopping list and immediately began baking cookies in Eric’s honor.
His company, Dough Jangles, officially began with the delivery of a tray of cookies to Dr. Corder’s office, with an official list of how he had spent his money.
Aaron and his mother bake the cookies and sell them. His older brother, Bryce, also gets a fee for helping out. A portion of the proceeds go to the charities that helped them when Eric was ill. His sister is never far from Aaron’s thoughts while he bakes. “I think he would be proud of me,” he says. “I think I’d be happy if I didn’t give up.”
Wouldn’t your loved one be happy that you didn’t give up?
For me, I am convinced that I would never have experienced skydiving, or the many other adventures in my life, if my sister had not died. She gives me the courage to take risks and experience life to the fullest! When I’m not doing something adventurous, I’m still open to inspiration. Sometimes I feel like eating Snyder’s bar-bq fries for no apparent reason other than my sister loved them and I figure she has a carnal craving. I celebrate her favorite color, purple, by wearing it when the spirit moves me. I run through the fall leaves because that’s what we used to do and because I can, or I go out to the beat of Journey because something deep down says she’d love it right now. As I feel the music beating through my veins, I can feel it dancing behind the beats.
What adventures would you undertake if you knew that you were protected from above? What dreams would you dare to dream? Think how your life could expand if you let go of your fear and live for two!
It’s something to think about…