One week after Patrick Swayze’s death, I keep hearing him in my head. He said in his last interview, “The only thing you can take with you when you die is love.”  If you’re living your life completely on purpose, present, and deliberate, then you’re probably motivated to make everything you do very special. Let me give you an example.

Derek Braybrooks, from Boiling Springs, S.C., chose to make a journey to Zion National Park with his mother who was fighting cancer and very frail. This particular day, the park was not crowded, and a light breeze fanned their faces as they stepped off the shuttle bus. The late afternoon sun shone brilliantly in an almost cloudless blue sky.

His mother, visibly moved, walked down to the Virgin River that runs between the soaring monoliths. Together, they leaned on some rocks in silence watching the river as it splashed its way through the canyon, and saw two white-tailed deer feeding quietly on the opposite bank.

He wanted to tell his mother he loved her, to thank her for all she had done for him and how he was proud to be her son. He turned toward her, but the words did not come.

Then he felt her hand upon his arm. He turned back to see a look of recognition on her face. He didn’t need to say anything – she understood.

In the weeks that followed, they spoke often about their visit to Zion – even making plans to return in the spring. It wasn’t to be.

In March she moved to hospice care. And then came the call he was dreading. She was gone.

He said, “I know she carried with her to the end the memory of that afternoon in Zion.”

Hear more touching memories in the new PBS show called “Voice from the Wilderness,” The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.

Don’t just pencil in time with those you love, rather, open that calendar and lock in special occasions and let nothing stop you.

COOL PLACE TO GO on a tight green budget. Brand new for September 2009!!
Here in the Bay Area, you can set a date and see ”Journey to the Stars,” a new show featuring narration by Whoopi Goldberg, debuts at the California Academy of Sciences Morrison Planetarium. The academy is a natural history museum that also includes a world-class aquarium and four-story domed rainforest.