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it's hard to believe that it's been a decade since dr. buscaglia died of a heart attack, in june, 1998, at his home in lake tahoe, nevada. thank god the world still has all his books, so that part of him will always be here. i've got at least a dozen of them lining the bookshelves in my hallway.

leo buscaglia, was a gem of a man, perhaps even the greatest 'lover' the world has ever seen. it seemed as if he loved everybody, and not merely like you would love an aunt or uncle, but almost in the way many people think of loving god. he had a passion that's often hard to find in today's mind-numbing world, where an honest and candid conversation is so often replaced by face-less, emotionless emails, etc.

so without further ado [drum roll, please!] i give you leo buscaglia!

"death is a challenge. it tells us not to waste time . . . it tell us to tell each other right now that we love each other" ~leo buscaglia

perhaps the fact of life most conducive to living fully as a person is an honest awareness and acceptance of death. when we can embrace death as simply another aspect of the life cycle, we will give appreciation and value to each life encounter knowing that it will never occur again. ~leo buscaglia

a start by dr. leo buscaglia
each day, i promise myself not to try to solve all my life problems at once -- nor shall i expect you to do so;

starting each day, i shall try to learn something new about me and about you and about the world i live in, so that i may continue to experience all things as if they had been newly born;

starting each day, i shall remember to communicate my joy as well as my despair, so that we can know each other better;

starting each day, i shall remind myself to really listen to you and to try to hear your point of view and to discover the least-threatening way of giving you mine, remembering that we are both growing and changing in a hundred different ways;

starting each day, i shall remind myself that i am a human being and not demand perfection of you until i am perfect, so you're safe;

starting each day, i shall try to be more aware of the beautiful things in our world -- i'll look at the flowers, i'll look at the birds,

i'll look at the children, i'll feel the cool breezes, i'll eat good food -- and i'll share these things with you;

starting each day, i shall remind myself to reach out and touch you, gently, with my words, my eyes and with my fingers, because i don't want to miss feeling you;

starting each day, i shall dedicate myself again to the process of being a lover -- and then see what happens;

you know, i'm really convinced that if you were to define love, the only word big enough to engulf it all would be "life" --

love is life -- in all its aspects ... and if you miss love, you miss life ! please don't! quotes from "born for love", by dr. leo buscaglia:

~separateness is an illusion.

~most of us remain strangers to ourselves, hiding who we are, and ask other strangers, hiding who they are, to love us.

~any action that inhibits is not love. love is only love when it liberates.

~the only lasting trauma is the one we suffer without positive change.

~it is only when we have experienced love that we truly realize what would be lost by missing it.

~love is constant, it is we who are fickle. love does guarantee, people betray. love can always be trusted, people cannot.

~all the things that "go without saying" or that are "understood" between two people in love can build up a mountain of miscommunication.

~it is when we ask for love less and begin giving it more that the secret of human love is revealed to us.

~the life and love we create is the life and love we live.

~when it comes to giving love, the opportunities are unlimited, and we are all gifted.

the following is an excerpt from "living, loving, and learning" by leo buscaglia (page 122). it is something leo found in the journal of humanistic psychology, and was written by an 85 year old man who learned he was dying:

"if i had my life to live over again, i'd try to make more mistakes next time. i wouldn't try to be so perfect. i would relax more. i'd limber up. i'd be sillier than i've been on this trip. in fact, i know very few things that i would take so seriously.

i'd be crazier. i'd be less hygienic. i'd take more chances, i'd take more trips, i'd climb more mountains, i'd swim more rivers, i'd watch more sunsets, i'd go more places i've never been to. i'd eat more ice cream and fewer beans. i'd have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones. you see, i was one of those people who lived prophylactically and sensibly and sanely hour after hour and day after day. oh, i've had my moments, and if i had it to do all over again, i'd have more of those moments. in fact, i'd try to have nothing but beautiful moments -- moment by moment by moment.

i've been one of those people who never went anywhere without a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, and a parachute. if i had it to do all over again, i'd travel lighter next time. if i had it to do all over again, i'd start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. i'd ride more merry-go-rounds, i'd watch more sunrises, and i'd play with more children, if i had my life to live over again. but you see, i don't"