The Fullness of Our Precious Days

by Fran Withrow 04.2022 

Ann Patchett, the prolific writer whose previous books include “Bel Canto,” “This is the Story of a Happy Marriage,” and “Truth and Beauty,” is out with a new offering. “These Precious Days” is a collection of essays, all just as thoughtful and profound as you would expect from this gifted author.

The title essay, which is also the longest one, is utterly bittersweet. Patchett befriends actor Tom Hanks’ assistant, Sooki, who is fighting cancer. Sooki is living at Patchett’s house when the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps across the world. She ends up staying with Patchett for months as she seeks treatment, and the deep connection that develops between these two women reminds Patchett just how ephemeral our lives are, how much we should treasure each moment, and what a gift it is to be alive.

Finding connection and acknowledging this gift of life is an undercurrent throughout the essays. Patchett had me hooked from the beginning with her first essay,”Three Fathers.” In this heartwarming treatise, Patchett talks about her very different relationships with her biological father and her two stepfathers. Each man treasured her and supported her in vastly different ways.

“How to Practice” focuses on how we can prepare for death by getting rid of extraneous possessions. She maintains that we can get weighed down by all the stuff in our lives instead of zeroing in on the gifts of being alive, right now. An added bonus is the joy that one can experience by giving away things that one no longer needs.

Patchett also talks about her love for Charles Schulz’s cartoon dog, Snoopy, and his connection with her own dog, Sparky. She discusses how a painting of Sparky ended up as the front cover of this book (as well as one of a Pileated Woodpecker on the back). I had no idea how book covers are chosen, so I was intrigued to learn more about the process.

Knitting, her husband’s love of flying, and her childlessness seem like such disparate topics, but the subtle underlying theme of gratitude, appreciation, and awareness thrums throughout. Patchett is always aware of death, but this awareness lifts her up as she celebrates this sweet gift of life. 

“What the American Academy of Arts and Letters Taught Me about Death” is especially interesting. I did not know that membership in the Academy is limited to two hundred and fifty people. The only way to become a member is if a present member dies. Patchett stands in front of the Portrait Gallery and marvels at the passage of time; musing over the portraits of Samuel Clemens and Henry James, Thornton Wilder and Georgia O’Keefe. She sees her own picture on the wall and knows that someday, she too will be gone, and someone else will stand in her stead.

And what is the proper response to this brevity of life? According to Patchett, it is this: “We take in the fullness of the day and the joy of being together and we are grateful for every second until it’s time to go.” 

Precious days, indeed.