How easy it is to procrastinate and thus miss out on an important opportunity. Recently, I have done this and now I regret the lost chance.
A cousin of mine, four years my senior, recently moved to a town within easy driving distance. She moved there a couple of years ago, following the death of her husband, to be near her daughters. We kept in touch by e-mail and Christmas cards. I thought of going to visit her; I thought of asking her to come to visit me. But I didn’t do either of these things and now it is too late.
In October of last year, I received a telephone call from her. I could hardly understand what she was saying. She told me that she kept falling down and listing to one side when she walked; the doctors thought she had had a stroke and they would be doing a CT scan to verify the diagnosis in the near future.
I called Muriel several times after that initial call but there was never any answer. I received a Christmas card from her, written by her daughter who said that the test showed that she had not had a stroke but, in fact, had a brain tumour for which she would receive radiation. I wrote to her care of her daughter but I didn’t receive any reply and, as I didn’t have her daughter’s married name, I was unable to locate her phone number.
In January, I received a phone call from a mutual cousin who lives in California that Muriel had died. Shirley and I talked for some time commiserating about the fact that we had not visited her while she was still in good health. Shirley had, in fact, met with Muriel several times over the years but I had not met with her since my childhood, when they both stayed with our family during the Second World War as evacuees from London, England. I felt remorse that I had made so little effort to meet with Muriel before she got sick and passed away.
Since Christmas 2008, another cousin has got in touch with me. We lost sight of one another a few years ago when she remarried. I did not have her new surname and was unable to find her new address. I will try not to procrastinate and lose the opportunity to meet up with Margaret who lives in Toronto, not that far away from Muskoka where I reside.
As we get older, friends and relatives of our own age can disappear from our lives in an instant. It is up to each one of us to make an effort to spend time with these important people. We need to take the time to let them know we are concerned with their well-being and that we care about our bond with them. Lost chances cause sadness. I don’t want to be the cause of that sadness again.
© Judith Lawrence
Web site: www.judithlawrence.ca
Latest book: Glorious Autumn Days: A Book of Meditations for the Wisdom Years, available at www.lulu.com
2 comments:
Dear Judith,
The chord you've struck with this tender story has sounded innumerable times in my own heart and mind--that of lost or missed opportunity;of offering and doing too little, too late.
To balance though: I reckon that living totally without regret is very difficult for a caring person; but one must remember that none of us is superhuman,although we love and serve a supremely superb God, who cares for us as well as for those we care about.
Blessings,
Peter.
Dear Judith,
The chord you've struck with this tender story has sounded innumerable times in my own heart and mind--that of lost or missed opportunity;of offering and doing too little, too late.
To balance though: I reckon that living totally without regret is very difficult for a caring person; but one must remember that none of us is superhuman, although we love and serve a supremely superb God, who cares for us as well as for those we care about.
Thank you, and God bless,
Peter.
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