For the last few years, with every fall that I have enjoyed, I felt a certain amount of nostalgia. Last fall I was in a fog, because my husband had just passed away. Prior to his passing, however we were together for countless falls and we were both growing older and the season of fall seemed to mirror the season of our lives.

And then it seemed to me that all of the seasons mirrored the stages of our lives. Spring was like our youth, when we were green and growing, Summer was like our adulthood when we were strong and busy. Fall was like our later years, when we had acquired wisdom and we were heading into that final winter. Winter was the sleep of death before our renewal. Was I late to the party? Did everyone else already see this? I don’t know, I just know that it was the last few years that it began to dawn on me. And while all the seasons mirrored a season in our lives, fall hit me the hardest, seemed the most poignant.

Fall seemed to say, I have lived and I am beautiful and wise. As I change and as I reach my ending, I am going to BLAZE. I am going to stun you with beauty. I’ll lay white, misty fog at your feet each morning and reveal the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets of the entire year. I’ll give you a big harvest moon to swoon over. I’ll give you cool mornings and warm afternoons, bonfires and hayrides. And the trees are going to teach you how to go out in style, burning with bright colors, showing off to the very end. Fall doesn’t go gentle   into that good night.

And isn’t that how we should be when we near the end? Shouldn’t we pour ourselves into others, and show the beauty of our spirits, of our hearts? We should be bold and brave and bright as long as we can. We can say, look at me, I have something to say as I reach my ending. I have lived and I am beautiful and wise and I am going to try to blaze as long as I have breath.

Copyright ©️ 2025 Lisa Paul