Today, I got a phone call from my daughter's kindergarten teacher. She asked me why I wasn’t providing lunch for my daughter over the past few days. Confused, I hung up the phone and asked my daughter what she was doing with her lunches. She said, "Katie’s mom is in the hospital and hasn’t been able to make any meals for the last week, so I gave a few of my lunches to her.” MMT

Today, my dad and I were getting in our car at the grocery store parking lot when a scruffy man walked up asked if we had any empty plastic bottles. Next to him was the most beautiful, obedient Labrador. My dad said he didn’t have any bottles, but handed the man a $5 bill instead. His face lit up and he thanked us with a big smile. And as he walked away we heard him say happily to his dog, "You get to have a big dinner tonight!" and his dog barked. MMT

Today, when I told the deaf patient I care for, who is an injured veteran of the gulf war, that I’ve read a lot of books and understand the brutality of war, he grabbed his notepad and wrote, “I believe your intentions are good, but all teachings from books are mere references. True knowledge is experience – in seeing the blood and hearing the cries with your own eyes and ears. Even the noblest of words about such events are only words, not knowledge.” MMT

Today, I'm lonely. And I'm lonely in some horribly deep way and for a flash of an instant, I can see just how lonely, and how deep this feeling runs. And it scares me to be this lonely because it seems catastrophic. And yet, I live in one of the most populous cities in the world with my husband, kids, and dogs. MMT

Today, after we all watched her blow out the ridiculous number of candles on her giant 100th birthday cake, my grandmother looked up at all 27 of us – her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and extended family – and said, “Look what I started. This family. I am so proud to be a part of your lives.” MMT

Today, my mom never made it home from work. And I forgot to kiss her goodbye this morning like I usually do. It doesn’t seem real. RIP. MMT

Today, my mom finally gave me permission to clear out my brother’s room, five years after his passing. MMT

Today, after I picked her up from her broken down car at 3AM, she hugged me and said, “Thank you for being my best friend.” She had never called me that before so it made me smile. “Best friend, eh?” I joked with her. “When did I earn that title?” She smiled back and said, “A long time ago, but I guess I was just confronted with it tonight. Ya know? A friend you can call up at 3AM is someone really special.” MMT

Today, I watched and listened as his best friend approached his casket at his wake and through heavy tears cried out, “I never said 'I love you' because I was waiting for you to say it first.” MMT

Today, at the age of 30 I kissed a man for the first time in my life, out of my own free will. After years of counseling from the sexual abuse I endured from my uncle when I was just a kid, I finally feel healed. MMT

Today, my father, the man who used to mercilessly beat my little sister and me when we were kids, is in a nursing home and can barely move or speak. But my little sister still goes to visit him every morning before work. MMT

Today, he's your perfect stranger, he's my brother, he's a good friend, he's a musician, he's another handsome face in the crowd, he's a baseball player… He's a cancer survivor who was fought a rare form of cancer since he was twelve years old. He struggled through chemo for five years, stayed in school, and somehow made it through. My best friend Devon won his battle with cancer yesterday. His strength, outlook on life, and love and determination MMT.

Today, it’s been 10 years since I told my best friend Diego that I wouldn’t be able to attend the prom with him because my family was struggling to make ends meet and couldn’t afford to buy me a ticket or a dress. Diego ended up buying me a dress and a ticket, and helping my folks out with money by helping my dad, who had been unemployed for six months, find a good job. Ten years, a marriage, and one kid later, Diego still MMT.

Today, a woman who couldn’t swim tried to kill herself by jumping into a rough part of the Amazon River in South America. Without a moment's hesitation, I witnessed a complete stranger jump in, grab her, grab on to a log and pull the woman to safety. This all happened in less than two minutes flat. MMT

Today, when he kissed me for the first time as we waited at that red light, I didn't know it would be our last, or I would have kissed him longer. Neither of us saw the car coming through the red light after our light turned green, but that's how our first became our last. It makes me ill. This hospital bed is uncomfortable. Life's meaning for all of this MMT.

Today, on the evening my ex-wife remarried on some tropical island, I got to spend time with my two sons - ages 8 and 9. And I realized tonight that the recession had pretty much taken everything from me - my wife, my career, my house, etc. - with the exception of my boys. They have been my rock - my meaning. And every time they look into my eyes and say "I love you dad," I feel quite rich. MMT

Today, when wrote an email to my mentor and business investor about how I was discouraged, and how I thought our small non-profit was never going to touch as many lives as I had hoped, he replied with the following: “Jay, we’re already changing the world. Making a difference in a few people’s lives can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. We’re still small, but we’re really important to the ones who need us most.” MMT

Today, on the one year anniversary of the car accident that left me with sever back problems and no best friend, I woke up crying again. My older brother heard me and came into my room quietly. As I tried to pull myself together, he sat down next to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Keep crying Katie. It’s OK. Crying doesn't indicate that you’re weak. Since birth, it has always been a sign that you're still alive.” MMT

Today, on our 50th wedding anniversary, my husband took out an old envelope and handed me back the love note I wrote him in the 7th grade. MMT

Today, after being single for 53 and 54 years, respectively, we both said “I do” to each other, even though cancer has chosen to only give each of us another 12 months, max, on this Earth. MMT