No Regrets

There's a couple of personal blogs that I follow pretty religiously and for the most part, most of them blog almost everyday or every other day and it's the first thing I check when I wake up in the mornings hoping to see an update from one of these sites. Some of them I like because the writing is fantastic and I wish I could write like them. Some post about their random everyday lives which is pretty mundane for the most part but for some odd reason I'm very drawn to them. I usually tend to gravitate toward the blogs where the writing is pretty informal and I can hear their voice through their writing. Most of the time these blogs don't really impact me in any way. I just read them and then move on but today one of them did. I've been following this particular blog for a little over a year now and I can't even really remember how or why I started following them in the first place. It's pretty much a blog of this person's everyday life from what they do, who they meet up with all with an emphasis on what they eat everyday. I'm sure this sounds pretty boring and I assure you that it is but everyday, I read it and look at the pictures (most of them the same as the meals don't tend to differ that much) and part of the reason why I like it so much is because I know they will post not once but usually at least twice a day. It's like a little treat for me whenever I refresh my reeder I can usually count on a post first thing in the morning and then a second one sometime in the early evening.

About two weeks ago, this blogger's dad went into the hospital for surgery and ended up in the intensive care unit due to complications. For the past two weeks, I've been reading and living the experience at the hospital and when finally, things seemed to be turning around and he seemed to be getting better, I woke up this morning to find out that he suddenly passed away last night without warning. And reading this news made me incredibly incredibly sad. It took me a bit for the news to fully settle in and a bit longer for me to get my day started. Obviously this brought back memories and it made me think about how quickly one's life can change, just at a drop of a pin (is that the phrase people use?) and your whole life can be turned upside down just like that. One minute you think you're on top of the world and things are going great and then a minute later, everything comes crashing down and your whole life is different.

I can still remember distinctively where I was and who I was with when I found out the news about my dad. Sad to say but with the exception of one, I don't really keep in touch with any of those friends anymore even though they are the ones who has seen me at my most vulnerable. My own family hasn't even seen me like that. It really got me thinking that we really need to take the time to appreciate not just our family members but everyone that you care about because it's just too easy to take relationships and friendships for granted. Everyone is so busy with their own lives that it's hard to find the time to make each experience meaningful. I'm really glad that I'm at a point where I really do enjoy being around the company of my mom because that wasn't always the case and that I've been able to make the time in the past couple of years to make family visits a priority.

I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to this person's father today and all I can say is that if you're around someone you love, be sure to give them an extra hug or a nice pat on the back today because you just never know.