Say It Enough?

I was going through one of my old blogs the other day, and I came across an entry that really touched me. Even though I wrote this over five years ago, it still holds true to this day.

It's amazing how we seem to take everything for granted.We always think that someone is going to be there for us when things go wrong.We automatically think that we will live to see tomorrow. But what if we don't? What if we don't wake up tomorrow morning? What if today is our last day and we don't realize it? If we were to die tonight, would we have said everything that we wanted or needed to say? Or would there still be things that we didn't get a chance to say? Did we say 'I love you' to those we truly love? Or did that slip our minds? Did we just tell ourselves that we will tell them tomorrow how much they mean to us? Did we assure ourselves that they'll be there tomorrow morning when we wake up and go bouncing into the next room? Did we take for granted the fact that they'll always be there?

Did we ever let the thought cross our minds that maybe, just maybe they won't be there tomorrow morning? Did we ever consider that tonight might be our very last night with that special someone? Did we ever stop to consider how many times we've said 'I love you'? Did we say it enough? Did we let them know exactly what they mean to us? If not, then start now because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

I was seventeen years old when I wrote this. I remember it very vividly now. I was working at one of the local child care facilities when I saw a young man that I hadn't seen in years. This young man had been fighting for his life for a while now. The cancer was in remission, but there was still the fear that it might come back. I was absolutely amazed when I saw him. He was and still is to this day the sweetest person you will ever meet. His actions on this day, five years ago, prompted me to think long and hard about life and the fact that people take so much for granted. Every time this young man walked away from someone he loved, even if it were for just a few moments, he would say 'I love you.'

This prompted me to think. Shouldn't we all act this way? Shouldn't we let our loved ones know that we care about them very much every chance we get? Well I think we should. I don't think people say 'I love you' enough anymore. I know for some, myself included, that those words are difficult to say. But I realize now how often we take the people in our lives for granted. We assume that they just automatically know how much we care about them and love them. Yes, most of them do already know this, but it doesn't hurt to reassure them. Saying 'I love you' in parting could mean so much to someone especially since we never know if that will be the last time we have the opportunity to say them.