Appreciate Before It’s Too Late

Recently I was assigned to write an "In Memoriam" story about a woman who passed late last year due to pancreatic cancer. While speaking with her husband for more than an hour, I heard a lot about how wonderful of a wife, mother, friend, and member of the community she was and how much he misses her. And then this widower told me something I think about frequently:

He said that now that she's gone, he now realizes how much he under-appreciated her while she was alive.

How incredibly sad.

But the more I think about what he told me, the more it makes sense - we get so caught up with work and life and unfortunately can sometimes (or even more often) take for granted what's truly important like our family, our health, our friendships, etc.

I know there have been times I've put too much time and energy into things that don't really matter instead of focusing on what truly counts. I hope that by writing this story and once again being reminded of how finite life is, that I will spend more time being grateful for what I have and showing my appreciation to those I share my time with.