“Marcus spent his entire career saving lives behind the closed doors of the operating room,” I said.

“But it was not until he stepped out of those doors, not until he allowed himself to be vulnerable, to be seen, and to be cared for by the people who loved him, that he found his truest legacy.

Healing is not only about preserving a life.

It is about honoring the time we are given with one another.

My husband spent a career preserving lives, and it was holy work, and I will never say otherwise.

But he spent the end of his life learning the second half of that sentence, the honoring, and it was the second half that set him free.” I held up the leather report.