Tell somebody while they live...

You've probably attended a funeral by now.  If not, you at least know someone who has passed.  I've always wondered why it is that we (mostly), not always think of the kindest things about people who are here no more. 

Ironically, all of these kind words and thoughts may have never been shared or stated to the individual who is now gone.  You never looked them square in the eye and said all of those lovely things.  Why is that?  Is it too hard to open one's heart and say something kind?  What gets in the way?  Is it unresolved anger?  Do we realize once the person's gone that this small/medium/or large violation that was too much while alive has become trivial?  Time wasted holding on to something that prevented the relationship from growing.

I'd love to start a whole new concept.  A new "category" if you will.  We have birthdays, weddings, graduations, and funerals.  These are one day events where something significant occurs.  Yes, the birthday repeats, but rarely is it really celebrated on a larger scale more than a few times through life.  I'd like to propose that we integrate a celebration of life where the person doesn't receive physical gifts, but, the gift of why their existence matters to you.  Like the Christmas classic, "It's a wonderful life", where James Stewart's character discovers how different life was were he not to have been born.  I sense that we all have a footprint, and I don't just mean a carbon footprint.  Some of us may not realize how we have impacted others.  It could be like my 5th grade teacher, Mr Turpa, who was disappointed that I didn't do my homework, and his disappointment was coupled with a genuine expectation that I was better than that.  He took me to a new level.  He probably doesn't remember that day....  I do.  I phoned him and told him.  I remember my dad bringing home my first bike, my sister defending me.  I remember the birth of my kids and the impact to get yet more serious to provide a good life for them.  To have watched them playing sports or singing a solo in church.

When my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the Dr. told me, "She could have died in a car accident and you would have wished you could have said some things to her....  go home and say those things."   I did, and continue to as best I can. 

How would you feel today if your child came to you and said, "thank you for being there... thanks for being my mom/dad/my brother, sister, friend, teacher, wife, husband... you have enriched my life by just being you.. or when you did this, etc...  Tell someone today... don't let another day pass.