Kiss them while you can

This morning my husband Rob came into the bedroom to kiss me good-bye before he left for work. Because he works days and I work evenings, I am most often still in bed when he is heading for work. Likewise, he is often in bed when I come home. Today, I was awakened by his kiss and "I love you," but many time I am sound asleep. Still I know that everyday he does this even though I don't remember.

There are probably no more important words in life than to tell the people who are close to you how much you love them and how grateful you are that they are in your life. These are words that never wear out, and I don't think can ever be overused. In fact I think that such expressions are best said on a daily basis because we truly never know when or if we will see our loved ones again.

This weekend, I was with a family of a man who had crashed his motorcycle, and although he is going to be all right—in large part becuse he was wearing his helmet— his girlfriend was upset bcause they had had an argument right before he went for his ride. Their last words to  each other were words of anger.

Many time people think that they would like to die quickly, "with their boots on" or just "go to sleep and never wake up." But I have come to appreciate the lingering deaths that diseases like cancer provide. When death is expected, persons have the chance to gather around themselves the people that they love and tell them how much they have meant to them in their lives. A longer death allows us to say "thank you," "forgive me" and "I love you." Those are the best words to wrap our lives. But those are also the best words to use daily in order to live well in order to die well.

May peace and love fill your live.