A Reminder: Everyday is a Gift

I was working this morning and had a lovely conversation with a counterpart acquaintance.  We were discussing vacations.  We were sharing, as you sometimes do, when you make small talk on the telephone.  She is making a trip to visit a sister in a few weeks.  Valentine's Day to be exact.  When she mentioned the date, it didn't click at first, just didn't sift through. 

Than I mentioned the trip the Captain and I are taking to memorialize twenty years together and she was enchanting.  It took us down another path of past vacations and she shared some lovely stories with me about some of her cherished vacation memories and the husband she had spent them with.  

She reminded me that everyday is to be viewed as a gift and not to take one moment for granted.  The light started to shine.  I asked how long she had been married and she told me it was almost forty years when her Mick passed away from cancer.  But she didn't dwell on what was no more, instead she chose to remember the good times.  The funny times and even the hard times when they were just the two of them, taking a road trip from Illinois to Maine because they had both decided they wanted real Maine lobster.  

No plans on that trip.  Just a car, a couple of bags, a cooler and each other.  They had only so much time for their trip but they were just going to see where the road took them.  That is still one of her most favorites as they made no plans and were surprised each day.

It was a lovely discussion and before I knew it an hour had passed.  We still had to review the original business that had her calling me in the first place, but after the call I realized it was one of the nicest hours I had spent this week.  She reminded me that life is not finite and each day should be cherished.  

I was starting to get excited about the trip that we have been planning for almost a year and getting myself worked up. You know what I mean.  Clothes, camera's, Passports, new suitcases, yadda, yadda, yadda.  And after speaking to her I am more relaxed, oh don't get me wrong, I am still going to get myself worked up in the days leading up to the trip, but I am going to try, to not get worked up if something doesn't go the way I thought it should in my head.  Take it one day at a time.

Be glad for the gift of time I have with this wonderful man right now and know that there are folks in the world who would give anything to have just one more day with their loved ones.  To all of you that get to spend the evening with your favorite person, make sure you remind them today why they are.  For all of you that have lost that someone special, know that my heart is a little heavier today, but I hope you got to have the life that Linda and Mick had together. 

And Mick, wherever you are...you did good.  While she thinks about you every day she still travels and goes on in your honor.  What a great legacy to leave behind.