A quick note on love and maybe a little bit about time 😊.  My husband, son, and I went and spent some time with my Aunt and Uncle on Friday night.  We haven’t seen them for a while and we just did a quick trip because they’re cleaning up and trying to move things on and out of their house.  As I watched my son run around their yard, the same yard I used to run around on visits as a child, I started thinking about how everything changes.  Well, really, it feels like it’s all the same and then one day you wake up and it’s all different.  But we are given such an amazing gift to have this life.  The passing of time isn’t something to lament—it is a reminder to make the most of what we have.

We let so much time pass between us, either as a natural factor of life or because of stupid stuff, and then we blink and nothing is as it was.  It’s amazing how we can go about our lives and often forget what is right in front of us.  My family has gone through a lot of transition this year, moving, changing business locations, closing businesses, entering retirement, the loss of my baby, us buying a new house, my son entering school soon—it all gets so overwhelming.  But it is also a very real reminder how absolutely precious this time is.  I’ve listened to my parents argue and complain about each other for years and after visiting with my aunt and uncle, it hit me: this is all going to end someday.  Whether we like it or not, whether we are frustrated in our present circumstances or not, this is all going to end.  Stop being so miserable.  Enjoy what we have.

I’m no angel in that behavior and I’ve often allowed stupid things to get the best of me so I’ve fought with my husband when I should have let things go, I’ve snapped at my kid, I’ve become frustrated at work.  And as I see my family aging around me, I realize I’m aging too.  The opportunities I had and the experiences I had that felt like yesterday are truly in the past.  So taking the time to enjoy and share what we have now is key.  Fighting over stupid stuff is absolutely pointless.  Feeling any discontent in your day is pointless.  Make room for joy.  We have the ability to love and we are given so many opportunities to express it.  And seeing how short this trip on Earth really is, we should take that opportunity as often as we can.  Time is special, invaluable—use it to the best of your ability while you have it and never take this life for granted.