Isn’t it amazing how things when we are young, the things that are not on top of our list, become the things we treasure the most as we get older?
When we were young and so full of energy, time was not a factor of what we did. We knew our parents were there for us, we knew Grandma and Grandpa were at their house and we would see them every holiday.

We would see them on birthdays and special occasions, so we did not seem to think it was necessary to go visit for no reason. We were in our twenties and it felt like we had so many many years ahead of us.
We didn’t treasure our time because we had so much at our disposal. We had time to burn, and family times we a hassle, not a pleasure. We had friends we had to see, and things to do.
Then the years came that we had children of our own, and it was fun for those family get gatherings. It was fun to have all see and share our little ones.
We became so busy in a whole different way. We balanced jobs and family and our kids’ activities. We got overwhelmed that we had so many places to go on the holidays.
Life was different then. Years and time flew by and then came our children’s’ years of college and starting families themselves.
We were now in the years of being Grandma and Grandpa and taking care of our parents. We realized that we were dealing with time issues in a different way. Where did the time go?
Our time with our family and friends became a precious treasure that we had. I wish all could realize that when they are young.
The very people that we thought would always be there are gone. We have regrets that we did not take more time to spend with them.
We realize that we took them for granted. We now know that having so many places to go at the holidays was a great thing, because now those places are gone, and also the wonderful people that lived there.
We wish we would have told Mom that she made the best potato salad in the world.
We wish we would have told Dad that his way of always being there is so important to us. We wish we would have told Grandma how special she is in our lives.
Each day we have will never happen again, and tomorrow is a great new day to start something new. Tell the people in your life you love them and appreciate them even when you’re busy.
You never know how that time with all you care about will change. And if you are blessed with a big family and have plenty to share, bring others in that have lost so many.
There are those who have no choices to go to at the holidays. Let your home and gatherings be a warm place to come to and a great memory.
Pay some good forward     Treasure every moment of every day. You’ll never have it again.