Boy, do I have an amazing story for you.

Today is my wedding anniversary.

Actually, kind of a double anniversary.

On April 21, 2011... I proposed to my wife Shelli in Paris.

On April 21, 2012... we got married.

For those of you who are newer to this list, my wife Shelli died this past October after a long battle with cancer.

So when I saw this weekend coming up on the calendar, I knew it might be a hard one.

To make it a little tougher, my daughter Sienna was out of town with my sister for a dance conference.

Which meant I was going to be alone all weekend.

And I didn’t like the sound of that.

That’s where this story takes a turn.

I have an old college friend named Jay.

We met in 1996 at the University of Miami and spent two days together on a trip to Los Angeles for a conference. After that, we only crossed paths a couple more times before graduation, and then life took over.

Years later, out of nowhere, Jay called me to tell me his wife had died of cancer.

We talked a few times, then drifted apart again.

Then nearly another decade passed.

In 2022, as I was getting ready for my first hypnosis certification training, Jay called me again.

This time he told me his second wife had died.

He was devastated. Depressed. He even wondered if he was cursed.

That phone call hit me hard, and this time I made a point to stay in touch. I pinned his name to the top of my messages so I wouldn’t forget. We talked more. I checked in.

Eventually, he told me he’d fallen in love again and was planning to propose.

I smiled from ear to ear.

Not long after that, Shelli was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

At first I kept it from Jay. I’d watched him claw his way back to happiness, and I didn’t want to drop that weight on him.

But eventually I told him.

And from that moment on, he became exactly the friend I needed.

Someone who had been through the unthinkable.

Someone who understood.

Someone who knew what it looked like on the other side.

The day after Shelli died, I had a long drive ahead of me, and Jay stayed on the phone with me for two hours on the worst day of my life.

He’s been there for me ever since.

So when I realized I’d be alone on our anniversary weekend, I asked Jay if he’d come to Atlanta so we could hang out for the first time in 30 years.

And he did.

We spent four straight days talking about our wives, telling stories, laughing, and enjoying some beautiful weather.

It was exactly what I needed.

And during the weekend, Jay said something that stuck with me.

This is a man who has lost two wives to illness, survived both losses, can now talk about them without sinking into sadness, and has found love again.

Here’s what he said:

“What I’ve gone through has actually made me more grateful than I ever was.”

That landed.

Because when you really know how fragile life is, gratitude stops being a nice idea and becomes a different way of seeing.

He added, “I don’t take anything for granted anymore.”

Neither do I.

Have a great week. I’ll be in touch again soon.

Cheers,

Sean