This question has been on my mind a little over the last week or so. It provoked some short periods of deep thought and at other times, just fleeting brief ones. What would the world be like for my loved ones if I was not to wake up tomorrow?
I know their lives would go on yet I wonder if I have imparted sufficient wisdom and knowledge on to my immediate family to carry them through, have I given enough of myself to them, do they know how deeply I love each and every one of them and what of all the belonging of mine – what will they do with them? These are all questions that have occupied some of my gazillion thoughts that I have in any given day.
Over recent months I have been de-cluttering my home and see there is still more to do. I think of the items and pieces that I really wish to keep and try to recall if my family knows the story behind them and why they are special to me. Will it actually matter one way or another?
Have I been involved in creating enough good memories with my loved ones for them to recall when I no longer walk this earth? Have I been a good example of how to be a kind and caring human being?
What if tomorrow doesn’t come?
I ask this as a very likeable fellow in my high school year passed in his sleep last week. His tomorrow didn’t come. Shock and sadness spread across our year of friends. Most of us have either celebrated our 50th birthdays recently or will be this year. It hits home when one of us passes; it always has. His funeral is this morning, very soon and my heart is heavy as I am unable to attend. I want to be there with my fellow high school friends, yet I cannot. We are due for another reunion in a few months’ time and it is deeply saddening to think there is going to be one less of us there.
We hear it so very often and usually dismiss it without any thought but life really is short. We can have the ‘what ifs’ or we can send that message or make that phone call or write that letter to an elderly relative or visit those unable to visit us. Putting off things until tomorrow may be the biggest disservice to ourselves of all time because what if tomorrow doesn’t come?
RIP our high school friend x