While living in our old house, we cultivated a lovely relationship with our elderly neighbors, Bob and Mary. Moving just a few blocks away allowed us to continue our relationship easily and we would stop by to visit Bob and Mary periodically. Just last week we went by the old neighborhood and the girls commented that it had been a while since we've visited and that we should stop and see our old friends. I responded that we would make some cookies and drop by sometime this week.
Unfortunately, we received some sad news yesterday. Mary passed away on Monday. My immediate thought was that we were supposed to visit her this week. Why didn't I make the time last week? Or the week before? My best intentions had taken from us one last visit. One last opportunity to chat with this lovely woman who so enjoyed the girls and their conversations. Just another example of taking tomorrow for granted.
Bob called this morning to make sure we had heard the news. Expressing my condolences and listening to him talk about Mary was all I could do. I explained my plans for a visit this week and his response was, "Oh, she sure would have liked that." I know she would have and that will be one more regret to add to my list. While I can't go back and make that last visit to Mary with a plate of freshly baked cookies, I can go forward and take this lesson with me. An abstract concept became very real for me today and even though I can't remove that one last regret, I can make it just that~my one last regret. Today is all I have. Today is all any of us have. Make it count.
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