The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss

by Anderson Cooper

When we’re young we all waste so much time being reserved or embarrassed with our parents, resenting them or wishing they and we were entirely different people.

We think we’ll do it one day, in the future, but life gets in the way, and then it’s too late.

How can my body betray me when there is so much still to be done? You see, it isn’t age itself that betrays you; it is your body, and with its deterioration goes your power. You end up obsessed, entirely focused on your health, paying attention to every nuance, every ache and pain. Instead of working or living your life, you waste your time on appointments with doctors.

Death is the price we pay for being born.

I guess narcissistic people don’t have much sense of what they are really like or how they make other people feel.

“The inescapable longing for something you never had.”

No matter what our age, death is not in the distant future. It is here in this present moment, right now, alive and waiting.

“Be kind,” he wrote, “for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” You may not be able to see the battle others are fighting, and you may believe they are confident and have never known sadness or fear, but believe me, they have, so be kind.

The rainbow comes and goes. Enjoy it while it lasts. Don’t be surprised by its departure, and rejoice when it returns.

Hope has energy and its own life force to make dreams come true.

Vietnamese, I learned that some Vietnamese people believe that if a baby is very pretty you never say, “Oh my, what a pretty baby.” You say, instead, “That is an ugly baby. How can a baby be so ugly?” You do this so evil spirits in the air don’t hear that there is a beautiful baby and take him away. This is one of the few superstitions I pay attention to and have expanded to cover more than just babies. I tend to avoid saying anything too positive about myself or my circumstances. Why tempt any evil spirits that might be floating around somewhere?

“You’re as good as the best thing you’ve ever done.”

Life holds joy and it holds pain, and each of us experiences both. The knowing of joy and the knowing of pain are both teachers and essential parts of the living process. Without either, there is no life.