When my husband ran for the Sunday papers yesterday morning, it was as routine as a teenager talking on the phone. What wasn’t routine was the fact that he was in a wreck on the way home.
Thank God, it was a wreck he walked away from. If he hadn’t been wearing a seat belt, I’m certain I wouldn’t be writing these words right now. I’d be with him at the hospital or worse… a “worse” that my mind doesn’t want to visit.
It was just another example of how fast and how dramatically things can change. It’s also another example of why we should always keep our lives and relationships in order. We honestly never know if we’ll have tomorrow (or this afternoon, or this evening..) to tell our loved ones that we love them or to make sure our children know how proud we are of them.
After the customary, routine thoughts that flood one’s mind after a “close call,” I realized how (if the worst had happened) relieved I would have been that my last words had been playful and were along the lines of, “Hurry back, I miss you already you know…” I would have been relieved that our relationship was on solid, ridiculously happy and downright silly ground.
I’m not saying that we should go around each day as though a tragedy could come swooping down on us at any time. That’s not living – I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it isn’t living.
What I’m saying this: There are exceptions, and I’m fully aware of the fact, but more times than not (when it comes to relationships as well as just about anything), we reap what we sow. If we have any relationships in our life that aren’t as close as we’d like them to be, we are at least partly to blame.
We have to realize that anything can -and often does – happen. We need to always do OUR part to make sure our relationships are all solid and to go out of our way to make all parting words kind… the sort of words that would never haunt you.
Whether you’re a husband, a wife, a parent, a son, or a daughter: Treat your relationships with your loved ones like the treasures they are.
You never, ever, ever know what train’s going to ride into your life. Don’t let regrets be on board.