Last week, I begrudgingly went through my mother-in-loves clothes. It was time; she passed away well over a year ago. We put this off long enough plus Papa gave a deadline (now or never). I appreciated the push. It was a beautifully painful experience and when all was said and done, it was an honor. I embraced the memories as they flooded back while we sorted through all of Kris’ belongings. Ironically, this was the same day as my Dad’s anniversary (he passed in 2001). So needless to say, it was an emotional day.
My older kids were with me and Aunt Kathy as we organized Kris’ belongings. Maddi helped bag all the clothes and Marky was our heavy lifter (we had over 15 giant bags). Kris evidently liked to shop and always wore the latest trends! She was also a crafter, and had an entire room dedicated to crafts and her collections (remember Beanie Babies!). It was super cool to see all her creativity and very rewarding knowing that her materials were going to be put to good use. I had the perfect friend that would put all that yarn to great use.
It took hours to go through everything, much longer then expected. Let’s just say Kris did not have a minimalist mindset. As we were getting ready to go, I called Papa to make sure that we were locking up the house properly. I have a tendency to set off alarms (and since he owns the alarm company, Paladin Communications, I thought it was best not to set off his alarm). He mentioned that he was on his way back home, and he’d be about 20 minutes. I said, no problem, we’ll wait.
My Maddi said, “You always do that, you always offer to wait. Why do you do that?”
She was not being a smart ass or whiney, just very matter of fact. In turn, I was very matter of fact as well and simply said, “People die. You never know the last time that you are going to see someone. I live with no regrets, so I wait. I always wait”. My response was raw and maybe a bit too direct but it’s the truth.
This past week has proven again that life is short. A father from our school community past away of a sudden heart attack. A local family was in a horrific car accident, and their 16-year old daughter was killed. God bless.
Slow down, embrace the ones that you love, always wait patiently and live life without regrets. Do great things in an ordinary way.
“You only have to live long enough to inspire others to do great things.” – The Walk, Alan Christoffersen’s diary
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