This Changed Me

National Public Radio (NPR) is ALWAYS on my radio. Whether it is in my house or in my car, I enjoy listening to it so much. So when I turned on my car to head home after running errands, NPR was naturally already on. I was catching an interview with Maurice Sendak. The name may or may not be familiar, but he writes and illustrates children's books with such titles as Where The Wild Things Are and One Was Johnny to mention a few. (I know the light bulb came on now!) He is now 83 and has published a new children's book called Bumble-ardy.


Sometimes I feel that people, books, songs, or interviews come into my life to help me when I need it the most. I tuned into this interview in the middle and it caught my attention right away. I did not know who it was at first, just an older man speaking about growing old and dying. I literally was crying listening to him speak of the person he has become and losing loved ones along the way. I could not get what he was saying out of my mind. He was speaking of not hating being old, but loving every bit of it and being happy for things that are right in front of him. But also hating being lonely and losing those close to him.

"I'm not unhappy about becoming old. I am not unhappy about what must be. It makes me cry only when I see my friends go before me...I don't believe in an afterlife, but I still fully expect to see my brother again and it's like a dream life...I am beginning to see nature...I am in love with the world....it is a blessing to get old. It is a blessing to find time to read the books and listen to the music. This is inevitable. I have no control over it." -Maurice Sendak

I could not get this interview off my mind! I came home and looked it up on NPR.org. The emotion and truth in his voice just moved me. Please follow this link and listen to it for yourself. It will change you.

NPR Interview with Maurice Sendak