Life is a gift. Never forget to enjoy and bask in every
moment you are in. – Unknown
Start living now. Stop saving the good china
for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person
materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute,
every breath, is a gift from God. - Mary Manin Morrissey
I hope
everyone had a wonderful holiday season.
As we end 2016 and are about to embark on another wonderful year with
many changes coming in 2017, I thought this was a good reminder to savor every
moment because it is a gift from God.
My brother-in-law
opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped
package.
"This," he
said, "is not a slip. This is lingerie."
He discarded the
tissue and handed me the slip. It was exquisite; silk, handmade and trimmed
with a cobweb of lace. The price tag with an astronomical figure on it was
still attached.
"Jan bought this
the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore
it.
She was saving it for
a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion."
He took the slip from
me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the
mortician.
His hands lingered on
the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to
me.
"Don't ever save
anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special
occasion."
I remembered those
words through the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my
niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death.
I thought about them
on the plane returning to California from the Midwestern town where my sister's
family lives.
I thought about all
the things that she hadn't seen or heard or done.
I thought about the
things that she had done without realizing that they were special.
I'm still thinking
about his words, and they've changed my life.
I'm reading more and
dusting less. I'm sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing
about the weeds in the garden.
I'm spending more
time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings.
Whenever possible,
life should be a pattern of experience to savor, not endure. I'm trying to
recognize these moments now and cherish them.
I'm not
"saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every
special event-such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the first
camellia blossom.
I wear my good blazer
to the market if I like it. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out
$28.49 for one small bag of groceries without wincing.
I'm not saving my
good perfume for special parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in
banks have noses that function as well as my party-going friends.
"Someday"
and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If
it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.
I'm not sure what my
sister would've done had she known that she wouldn't be here for the tomorrow
we all take for granted. I think she would have called family members and a few
close friends.
She might have called
a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to
think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food. I'm
guessing -
I'll never know.
It's those little
things left undone that would make me angry if I knew that my hours were
limited. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in
touch with - "someday".
Angry because I
hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write - one of these days.
Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how
much I truly love them.
I'm trying very hard
not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster
to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that
it is special.
Every day, every
minute, every breath truly is... a gift from God.
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