When I was 20 years old; my mom told me that my aunt Sally and my uncle Edward and his family were coming to visit us. It was during the summer of 1999 and I had just gotten a job working at a local nursing home in town. I was ecstatic that my aunt was coming, but I knew I had to work and didn’t really foresee a way to get off of work. I was a little afraid to ask for the day off due to a couple of girls getting “let-go” the week prior. The boss was really watching and monitoring everyone’s time and I didn’t want to be on the next one on the chopping block.

My aunt was really special to me. When my mother got pregnant with me when she was 16, it was my aunt that convinced my uncle Edward to allow her to have me. It was my aunt that kept me until I was two years old; allowing my mother to finish school and receive her High School Diploma. It was my aunt that worked scrubbing floors and washing windows to make ends meat for myself and her. I loved her so much, she had a son but he was grown and out of the house, she never had anymore children until she kept me, in which she treated like her prized possession. Mama would tell me that she would see my aunt on Sunday mornings, walking in 5 inch heels, carrying me on her left hip with her purse, bible and other items on her right. She said my hair was twisted up in knots (my aunt didn’t have girls, so she didn’t know how to do hair) but she did the best she could. She would walk 3 miles every Sunday from her house to church and back home again. So when I heard that she was coming, it broke my heart that I wouldn’t get the opportunity to see her. “Tell her, I love her and I’ll see her next time” I told my mom as I hurried out the house and went to work.

Work was long and got crazier and I never got the oppotunity to go and visit aunt Sally, but was looking forward to seeing her the summer of 2000. But that day never came; my mom received a call telling her that my aunt had been in the hospital for 2 weeks and we needed to come right away. We traveled over an hour to get to Little Rock, Arkansas. Once we got there, my mom was exhausted and re-assured us that we would go in the morning to visit aunt Sally. However; I was looking to hitch a ride from anyone that day who was going that way. The next morning as we were getting ready for church, I just happened to look out the window and seen my aunt’s son, it looked as if he was being consoled by his wife. As he came into the house, my heart dropped. He told us that my aunt had passed away in the wee hours of the morning. My moms scream is something that I had never forgotten…..I was inconsolable.

Why couldn’t we go the day before? Why didn’t I take off work that summer before? It was then that I realized that as time ticks away each day, we have to make the most of every opportunity. We fuss, curse and abuse time but we don’t stop to think about the gifts that it gives or provides to us daily. If we fail to take advantage of it, then it’s not time’s fault. It’s ours…

Yesterday, I seen two co-workers that I hadn’t seen in a long time. As we hugged and embraced one another, one asked about my children. Her face was shocked when I told her my daughter was going to the 8th grade and my son the 5th. I asked her about her girls and she told me that they were doing well and that they now were 26yrs old now. OMGosh!!! Really?? I remember her talking of them getting ready for prom, I remember when they graduated high school and starting their first year of college….now they are four years from being 30. The other co-worker shared that her daughter was a senior in college this year, it seems like it was just yesterday when she was leaving work to go to her high school and watch her play basketball. Where does the time go?

Time shows us everyday that it keeps on moving – whether we want it to or not, it’s the only thing that never stands still. Time is the most underappreciated word in the dictionary, a word that’s always there with us but we seem to never realize it’s true worth until it’s too late. I don’t know how you’ve been spending your time lately, but I’m here to tell you to enjoy the small moments and cherish everything around you. Take a little longer to hold a hand, a little longer to view a smile, take time to do the things you’ve always wanted to do, a moment to visit someone, take time to spend with your best friend or a parent because time shouldn’t be wasted and the best-est gift you can give to anyone.

Sunday’s Thought: You can always change your life but You can’t change Time. Use it Wisely…

Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager

Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud & Love Hard!

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