No one ever thinks they aren’t coming home.
All of Our To-Do Lists
Stuck at a stoplight, I watch all the people going by. Parents dropping their kids off at school. A dad with his hat on backwards while his daughter looks in the mirror. Teenagers laughing, carefree. A student on his bike goes by, and then another student passes walking.
And all of a sudden as I’m waiting for the light to change from red to green, I’m reminded of how we sing songs like “I’m gonna love you like I’m gonna lose you“ and we get a jolt toward a harsh reality every now and then at unexpected funerals. But somewhere in the mix and rush of life and all of our to-do lists, we revert back to normalcy. We act as if we have unlimited time. No one ever thinks they aren’t coming home.
Missed Opportunities
When someone passes, we want to be reminded of who they were and how much they meant to us. We listen to their voicemails when we are ready, we read their old texts and messages, and we watch whatever videos we can get our hands on.
It leads me to think about the last messages and things I said this morning already. What did I say as the girls got out of the car? Was I grumpy and short tempered last night when I had a headache after being at work for 9 hrs and driving for 2?
I think about all the opportunities I might have missed. Washing dishes instead of reading books, folding clothes instead of snuggling, working instead of spending precious time. We have to do those things. We can’t be perfect but we can always be better. I hope I will remember: No one ever thinks they aren’t coming home.
