One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in the book of James, “ you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Our years on this earth, whether they be nine or ninety five, pass through our fingertips like grains of sand. Life is fleeting.
Seventeen years ago today was my greatest reminder of how very fleeting and fragile life is. In one moment, one person’s decisions placed an end to four beautiful lives. A drunk driver snuffed out the life of my sister, Shana, and her three friends, Angela, Megan and Amanda. It’s nearly impossible to grasp that they had only seventeen years on earth and have now been gone for that same allotted time.
In seventeen years it seems as though a lifetime has passed and yet I can close my eyes and see Shana’s smile and hear her laugh as though it was yesterday. There have been moments in my life where I can’t allow myself to absorb her absence, because even after seventeen years it stings and my heart aches terribly. But I am still here, and although I look forward to the day I will see her again, the reality is that there will be a day that I take my last breath. That could be today or it may be in fifty years from now. Life’s a vapor.
Seventeen years have been filled with thousands of days of lessons, challenges and refining of how I perceive life and those I surround myself with. We don’t know how much time we have, but so often we live absorbed and caught up with things, stressors and crazy that simply doesn’t matter. If you were to reassess how you spend your time, who you spend it with and if you’re taking the opportunity to appreciate what you have how would you fare? When is the last time you said to your loved ones that you love them, that you appreciate them or hugged them? We might have a rewind button for our dvds and dvr, but there’s no rewind in life. Don’t wait, don’t waste time on things that detract from the hearts of loved ones and don’t make excuses.
It can be uncomfortable to think about losing someone we love, but what’s more uncomfortable is having allowed time slip through our fingertips where we’ve neglected and undervalued a relationship that could have been so much more. One of the greatest gifts I have is the memory of the last time my two sisters and I were together. We stood in our driveway and did our three sister hug as I was heading back to school from Spring Break. It was a quick hug. We goofed around, smiled and I waved goodbye as I pulled out of the driveway. Little did I know it would be our last time together. I am so very grateful for that last memory. Since as long as I can remember my parents made us hug. There were so many times I complained, rolled my eyes and even did the hundreds of ‘half hugs’ when we weren’t on good terms. Those hugs outweigh any paycheck, meeting or fancy material item. Time, conversations and love are precious.
Take a few minutes today, make a phone call, send a text, give a hug or grab a seat and chat with that someone that makes you smile and makes life better. Don’t wait. Life’s too short to not embrace those worth embracing.
