Considering that a loved one eventually will die only makes you that much more grateful for what it means to have them with you in your life.
We are all familiar, either personally or by a degree of separation, with that gaping hole in life that comes as a product of someone we love dying.
It’s as if something you didn’t think could be missing is gone; something you have no ability to fix is broken; something no effort of yours can mend is torn.
Recently, I was dying a slow death in the aisles of a store trying to shop for a new pair of pants. In the middle of the store, it struck me that for years my mother had done all of this uncomfortable, awful work in order to make sure that I always had clothes that fit me. I was overwhelmed with love and appreciation and gratitude towards her and in that moment. I wanted to text my mother but I thought “that’s too fluffy of a thing to send my mother as a thank you” and in that same moment, I remembered that eventually, I will not be able to send that message to my mother. So I sent the text.
There is a day coming when you will no longer have the ability to give that special person your time. If you can remember that eventually, your loved ones will die, you can give so much more meaningful time to them while they’re still here.
