Cherish the Ones You Love

Cherish every moment with the ones you love. They are here one day and gone the next.

NOTE: I wrote this in late January. It took me a couple of weeks to build up the courage to share it with you.

“If you love something, love it completely, cherish it, say it, but most importantly, show it. Life is finite and fragile, and just because something is there one day, it might not be the next. Never take that for granted.

Say what you need to say, then say a little more.
Say too much. Show too much. Love too much.

Everything is temporary but love.
Love outlives us all.” — R. Queen

My father passed away three and half years ago.

I find myself full of laughter, tears and regret each year at this time. His birthday of January 27 is fast approaching.

The laughter is from all the memories I cherish of my father. I have many of his mannerisms, and even today, I stop and wonder at those moments where he comes to life in the things I do and say. I know he still lives within me in those moments.

The tears are for the loss I feel anew, as fresh as the year he passed. It's funny how time manages to wring increasingly more tears from me every year. I didn't cry much the year he passed, but the tears seem to flow freely at odd moments now.

The regret is from wishing I spent more time with him in those final years. I didn't have a chance to say goodbye. I didn't tell him how much I loved him. I didn't tell him how great of a father he was to me. I'm sure he knew those things, but it would have helped both of us to hear them out loud.

He was simply there one day and gone the next.

It’s a well-known cliche... that I finally realized just how special my father was when he was gone. I took his mortality for granted. I thought I would always have more time. I was a fool.

I catch myself even now doing the same with others. After all, it is only natural to get wrapped up in our own lives.

Reach out to the ones you love today. Let them know how much you love them. Don't ever take them for granted, because you never know when that fateful day will arrive... the day you too are left with only laughter, tears and regret.