Knowledge of our own mortality is the greatest gift God ever gives us, comments Anna Quindlen, "because unless you know the clock is ticking, it is so easy to waste our days, our lives." Looking back on the early loss of her mother and her own experiences through middle age, Quindlen reflects on what it takes to "get a life"—to live deeply every day, rather than merely to exist. In doing so, Quindlen suggests, we have a chance to love the journey more than the destination.