Sometimes you come across a little gem on some other web site. There is a blog on blogger.com called "Amazing Facts", which I know some friends of mine have accessed as I recognise some of the images. Most of the site consists of great pictures and images from around the world.
But the blogger tells this story, or maybe reproduces like I am doing, but did not attribute it to someone else. It moved me, and I pass it on for anyone who comes across my blog. You can see it at :
http://myamazingfact.blogspot.com/2008/07/date.html
A date !
After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said I love you but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.
The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.
That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.
"What's wrong, are you well?" she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.
"I thought that it would be pleasant to be with you," I responded. "Just the two of us."
She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."
That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.
"I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, "she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting".
We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down,I had to read the menu. Large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.
"It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she said.
"Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I responded.
During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie.
As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.
"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home. "Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.
A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that no-one could do anything for her.
Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined.
An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son."
At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: "I LOVE YOU!" and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.
Nothing in life is more important than God and your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till "some other time."
I do agree with the principle of not putting things off. There are some occasions when I have been so glad I have acted, rather than hesitated. I don't like hospitals generally, and I guess most people find it hard to see people they have once known as hale and hearty, now a pale shadow of themselves, but I was glad that I went to see my late father in law in hospital the day before he died, to say goodbye. I was glad I wrote letters to people who were dying, which their family wrote to them, as I could not be there, and that those letters seemed to mean something to the people concerned, before they died. I am glad that I sometimes act on impulse or hunch, and visit friends or speak up at times when I sense their problems. But I don't always do it, I don't always have the courage of my convictions, I don't always act when I know I should.
Perhaps acknowledging this story from someone else's life, and recording it in my blog of life, will prove inspirational when I need it. Time will tell...
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