The Final Signpost of Life
You may someday miss your messy wife.
“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.”
— Khalil Gibran
“Why don’t we save it for a special occasion,” I said to my wife, Jo.
I had received an expensive bottle of South African wine as a gift for work I had done. My wife and I don’t drink very much but we enjoy a nice bottle of wine on occasions. We love to sit on the porch and enjoy a glass together.
She had asked if we should open it. I was just getting ready to leave for 6 weeks on a trip, I was busy and rushed.
I paused for a moment and then reconsidered.
My brother died at a young age with many dreams. He left behind three young kids and his wife. His list will never get completed.
Lists filled with dreams litter abandoned drawers, collecting dust, left unfulfilled for time.
We enjoyed the wine that night.
Saving for a Special Occasion
We keep items tucked away in storage for a special day, some perfect time in the future when all of the pieces will align to have one of those moments we dream about.
Bottles of wine, scented candles, gift cards to a spa, the list of restaurants we have kept tucked away in a drawer. We collect ideas and items for special times we want to share with a friend or partner in the future.
We keep a list of all the places we want to travel to in the world. We dream of the African safari or the trip on the Amazon.
It’s fun and exciting to plan for the future. But we too often push out life priorities for inane lists.
Time is not always our friend.
Cabinet Doors
A friend of ours lost his wife a few years back.
She was in her 30s. They had a young boy.
She was sitting in the back of the car in the middle seat, other family members were in the car. She sat in the middle as there weren’t enough seat belts.
Her father was driving. They got into a crash.
Our friend flew threw the window and was killed instantly.
Her husband wrote an open letter to friends and family about his wife. He commented how she drove him crazy as she would always get things out of the cabinets, not put them away and then leave all the doors open. He couldn’t understand how someone couldn’t just close the cabinet doors.
Then she was gone.
All he wanted was to walk back into the kitchen and see all the cabinet doors open.
My wife sometimes leaves the cabinet doors open.
Life is finite. Our time will come to an end. We just don’t know when.
We are shown signpost after signpost through our lives as reminders of what is important. We decide which course of action we wish to take.
There will one day be one last sign left on the road of life, a final reminder.
We don’t need to wait for the final sign, however.
Close the cabinet door.
Smile.
🙏 🦋 ❤️
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