James Sexton

Right now, she's alive.

She's in the other room.

She's right there.

And you get to kiss her as many times as you want to.

And isn't that the greatest thing in the world?

Like, isn't that the most, you know, Thich Nhat Hanh has this exercise that he says, when you hug someone, you should think about the fact that they're there and you're hugging them.

And then you should close your eyes and think that they're dead.

And you're hugging their dead body before you let it go for the last time

And then you should think about the fact that they're alive and you're hugging them.

If you do that, I'm telling you, your whole way of viewing the world will change.

And so hospice, for me, being a hospice volunteer, was a undeniable glimpse into that reality and nothing has ever looked the same since, like nothing.

And by the way, it didn't change into like, oh, now I have to renunciate everything and become a monk, no.

No, I just try to live my life in a way that knows like every time I say, every single time I text or talk to my sons who are 26 and 28, the last thing I say is I love you.

Even if I'm fighting with them, even if I'm pissed at them, I'll be like, well, you know what?

That's ridiculous.

All right, I'll talk to you later.

I love you.

Because I know the last thing I said to them is I love you.

Always, because someday, that's the last time I said it to them.

Like, I have to tell you, as a father, I was in Whole Foods a couple of months ago, and there was a younger man than me, a guy in his 30s, and he was just standing there, and he had like that look that like a tired young father has, and he had this little boy with him, his son, and the son was like doing what that thing that kids do, where he's like, dad, can you do this, dad, see this, dad?