There is some kind of beautiful magic that comes in those last final weeks you spend with a loved one leaving for heaven. I don’t think words will ever be able to truly explain the depth of what you experience. The magic came the day after the doctors told us she would be starting her final leg of the race- her 3 week journey to heaven. The magic felt and looked a lot like sorrow. It was heartbreaking and devastating. It was not the kind of magic that instantly erased our grief, or was going to keep her with us. The magic was a lot like a reality check.

Often, my mind wanders back to those final weeks and the gift of memory allows me to remember.

I have thought over and over for two years- “What was that beautiful magic?” 

“What made those final weeks some of the most special moments I spent with my dear mother?”

“How could I find that magic and carry it over into my everyday life?”

perhaps deep down I always knew the answer. Yet, it seemed too simple. 

I searched for something more dramatic, more complex because what I had experienced had turned my whole world upside down. The answer couldn’t be simple.

Or could it?

I always found myself coming back to just one four letter word that seemed to make the most sense to me and it took me a very long time to come to the realization that I, in fact had discovered the beautiful magic.

The answer was T I M E.

TIME.

The magic was time and it was the greatest gift I have ever received in my life.

We watched family movies in that hospital room at Kaiser all together. We told stories. We never let go of her hand. We kissed her over and over. We laughed. We sobbed. We hugged. We talked and talked and talked. We listened to every bit of her wisdom. We reminisced.  We loved with our whole hearts. 

We were given the gift of extra time with her. A time to realize how truly blessed and lucky we were and still are. 

In those final three weeks, I learned the most valuable lesson of all. I learned that I should have allowed myself to do more of that every single day. Why did it take till the very end to realize that? Why do so many things in life take till the very end to learn the lesson? 

Time allowed us to spend some of the most magical memories we shared together because all that mattered was HER. It allowed us to stop our busy schedules that seemed so important. Schedules that seemed to matter at one point in my life and then none of that mattered anymore. 

Time is the greatest gift you can give someone in life. That is the magic. That is the answer. It’s that simple.

Now, I know and understand.

What matters most to me is spending TIME with the people I love and adore. It’s the littlest moments I cherish the very most. The gift of every second I am given to spend with my family and dear friends. Its the realization that life can get too crazy and busy at times and priorities seem out of balance.

Take time everyday to cherish. To love with your whole heart.

If you can discover the magic of TIME- each day will be the greatest gift to you.

I am so very grateful.