Blink Of An Eye

I got a call this morning from a old colleague of mine with some devastating news. His wife of 30 something years was killed in an automobile accident the evening prior, just two minutes away from their home. Just like that! She was there one minute and gone the next, literally. He said minutes before the accident, she called him to say that she will be home in a couple of minutes and asked if he can meet her outside to help her with some stuff she had in the car. He waited and waited and didn’t see her pull into the driveway. He called her to see where she was but couldn’t get her. About 10 minutes later, he said there was a knock at his door. It was someone he knew who lived in their neighbourhood telling him that he needed to go with them right away!! And well you know… There is really no need for me to get into the details of what happened. She’s gone.

During our conversation, I heard trembling in his voice as he said, “I wish I had the chance to tell her that I am sorry for the pain I’ve caused and how much she meant to me. I loved her so much”. My heart just broke… That statement “I wish I had the chance to tell her” speaks to me in volumes. I don’t know all the details of their marriage, but hearing the pain in that mans voice and that statement, lets me know that he is left with many regrets. How many of us are guilty of this? You have someone in your life that truly loves and understands you. Someone you can truly be yourself with and there’s no judgement. Knows your faults, your dirt, your weaknesses, but accepts them and loves you anyway.

What are you doing to ensure they know that they are appreciated? Oftentimes, things are said or done that may hurt or offend them, and some of us can’t even utter the words “I’m sorry”. While others neglect to take the time to communicate with their loved ones to figure out what is needed to rectify whatever strain that has been put on the relationship. And then some of us, well, we simply just do not care enough. I can pull together many examples of injustices, but I am sure you get the gist of what I am saying here. We are too arrogant, insensitive, ignorant, and self absorbed to even notice when we have offended the ones we love.

Somehow, in our conscious thinking, we believe that because they love us, they will never leave us.

Let me remind you… The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away! There will be a time when the person you thought will never leave, is gone. Either they got tired of your shit and left, or they were called home to return to the most high. And you, well… you will be left wishing you had the chance to say or do what needed to be said or done. Unfortunately, for my colleague, he will never get the opportunity to say the things he wanted to say or should’ve said. She is never coming back… Man, what an extremely hard pill to swallow.

Not everyone will experience what it feels like to have someone special in their lives. So if you are an individual who the most high saw fit to gift you with someone who truly loves you. Who is willing to stand by you through all of what life has to throw at you… You are blessed indeed. Make sure to take care of that precious gift. Be sure to honour, respect, value, cherish and love them with all that you have, because only in the void created by its departure does one comprehend the profound worth of that which was once possessed.

Let’s take some time and think on these things. Be blessed.

Sophia Tavares Barrett