Moments that Make You Realize What is Important

My sister came home for a little more than a week to see Mom and Dad as well as spend some time with family. I realized two things during her visit.

The first is how much I enjoy hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, and watching her be a mom and a wife. I already knew she was a great sister, and the love of family is just an extension of everything she believes in. During Covid, the 800+ miles seem to have tripled as my sister and her family have been very cautious, even while immunized, because of my little three-year-old nephew. We’re not a big family so these moments usually are more frequent. But Covid has caused it to be a challenge.

The other reason that they were home is is that my brother-in-law’s father passed away several months ago due to Covid. He was a heroic transplant recipient who fought for many years to spend time with his wife of 4+ decades and his two boys, who are now men and with families of their own. He was a quality human being. He was a tremendous professional. A real loss for everybody. They were back to have a memorial dinner with some of his oldest friends and even the transplant donor who came in from Colorado.

Both of these realizations swirl around the idea of values, family, and not taking things for granted. There’s so much I have to get done on a daily basis. We all do. And yet most of those things aren’t really all that important in comparison to the people you love and the time you spend with them. I’m going to take the time that I’ve had with them, the thought of how fortunate we are with our health, and spend a little more time thinking about what really matters in this world.  I hope you might as well.