Organizations that enrich conversations about living—and dying—well.
At End of Life Options New Mexico, we spend our time helping people navigate practical questions about serious illness, advance care planning, caregiving, and end-of-life options. Yet those conversations often lead to something deeper.
What makes a life meaningful?
How do we stay present with one another?
What kind of legacy do we hope to leave?
That’s one reason we’ve begun highlighting organizations (learn more here) whose work complements our own. One of those is Grateful Living, a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating gratitude, reflection, and meaningful connection through essays, videos, guided practices, poetry, and other thoughtful resources. Their work reminds us that supporting quality of life isn’t only about healthcare decisions—it’s also about nurturing the relationships, values, and moments that make life worth living.
Each month, Grateful Living shares a featured poem accompanied by gentle reflection questions that invite readers to slow down and consider what matters most. This month’s selection, “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye, offers a beautiful meditation on the quiet ways our lives touch others—not through recognition or achievement, but through kindness, presence, and faithfully becoming who we are meant to be. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read it, reflect on its questions, and perhaps share it with someone who comes to mind.
We’re grateful to Grateful Living for creating resources that encourage compassion, mindfulness, and gratitude—qualities that enrich every stage of life, including its final chapters.
Acknowledgement: The following poem, “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye, was shared by Grateful Living as part of their monthly “Poem a Month” series. We encourage you to visit Grateful Living to discover additional poetry, essays, and reflection practices that nurture gratitude and compassionate living. Or visit our other Supporting Organizations on this website.
Famous
By Naomi Shihab Nye
The river is famous to the fish.
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.