Goodbyes – Part II

Last weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada. As I sat down to write the Mindful Moment for that weekend, I thought about using the theme of Thanksgiving. Instead, what came to me was a piece on saying goodbye. (I suggest you re-read it here.) Now I know why I was compelled to write using that theme.

Last Friday, I received the following e-mail from a Mindful Moment subscriber (she kindly agreed to let me reprint it here):

Patrick:
Reading your Mindful Moment comments this Thanksgiving brought forward a very important message often overlooked. At first I was puzzled that you chose this for Thanksgiving. Soon it became clear.The following morning at 5:15 a.m. my oldest daughter Jamie was in a severe motor vehicle accident and was transferred to a trauma center in Hamilton with a fractured pelvis and back as well as a small bleed on her brain.

How quickly our normal routine lives can change. A knock at the door and a police officer and the beginning of something you never imagined. As my husband and I drove home from the hospital tonight and did our usual venting of exactly how blessed and grateful we feel, how incredibly lucky Jamie had been, and how wonderfully supportive our family, friends and entire community has been, the importance of your message shines through.

I hope all my daughters have known they are loved unconditionally but there will never be a time that I will hesitate to say it.

God bless you and promise to give your son a HUGE hug from his “friend” Debbie.

-Debbie

Friends, I want each of you to promise me, and promise Debbie, that as soon as the goose bumps on your arms go down, you’ll run to your loved ones, or at the very least pick up the phone and call them to let them know just how much they mean to you! Promise?