No Promise of Tomorrow




A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

'This, - he said - Isn't any ordinary package.'

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

'She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion.

Well, I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said: 'Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion'.

I still think those words changed my life.


Now I read more and clean less. I sit on the porch without worrying about anything. I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through. I no longer keep anything.

I use crystal glasses every day.... I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.


I don't save my special perfume for special occasions; I use it whenever I want to.

The words 'Someday...' and ' One Day...' are fading away from my dictionary. If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now.


I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.

I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends. She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.

I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food. It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special. Live for today! Tomorrow is promised to no one!





5 Comments

Thanks!

by ElectricFrank - 2009-03-28 04:03:52

Chip,

I second your comments.

After my wife had a major stroke in 1999 we talked about this very thing. Her response was that she had lived life in the exciting way she liked it and had no regrets. But, the most important part was she then decided that she was still excited about life and proceeded to work full out on recovery. She followed that with writing a book "My Exciting Stoke" in which she described all the things she had learned about herself.

When she died 2 years ago I came away with the same feeling. There were no regrets.

There is a great couple of lines in the song "The Rose" that say:

It's the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live.

wow,

frank

Frank and Chip...

by pacergirl - 2009-03-28 08:03:22


I third your comments.

My friends in the locker room at the gym are forever commenting on my uh..... "pretty undies"

I have always said that "life is too short to wear ugly undies!" For me it applies to every day of the week.

My aunty

by Hot Heart - 2009-03-29 03:03:21

You are so right. My aunty is 90 soon and she is still keeping her new gloves for best, her best coat, her best hat. It's so difficult for someone who had so little when she was young to become frivolous.

I've given my kids most of my cash, told em they get the rest when i'm gone, and if I outlive my remaining cash they can buy me some holidays.

Tim McGraw song...

by dward - 2009-03-29 08:03:02

"Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying".

Thanks for reminding us.

live each day to the full....

by Loopy Lou - 2009-03-31 07:03:43

Loving this posting..... sooooo true!

Pacergirl! me too! I always like to wear umm pretty undies ! always matching.....!! lol! xx

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I just want to share about the quality of life after my pacemaker, and hopefully increase awareness that lifestyles do not have to be drastically modified just because we are pacemaker recipients.