We had a busy day visiting grave sites to pay our respects in anticipation of Memorial Day.
In the afternoon, Art and I went to visit his Aunt Gladys who lost her husband a month ago. My mother had made some nishime for Art to bring over. Nishime is a Japanese stew with bamboo shoots, chicken, fish cakes, potatoes and other vegetables. It's Art's favorite dish and we knew Aunt Gladys would enjoy some because it's not something you would make yourself due to the preparation time involved as well as the quantity it makes.
As soon as we got there Aunt Gladys asked about my foot. I'd broken it just the day before Uncle's memorial service which was this past Saturday. She had lots of stories about friends and relatives she knew who had also taken some terrible falls. She was thrilled to receive the nishime and told Art he was very lucky to have such a wonderful mother in law. I wanted to ask how she was but didn't want to break her cheerful conversation with a question that might bring her down.
When it was time to leave she said I was lucky to have such a wonderful husband.
I smiled and said, "I know."
"I wish I'd told him more often how much I appreciated him," she suddenly sighed. Her smile faltered just a bit and her eyes grew sad.
"He knew," I reassured her.
"But wouldn't he have loved to hear me tell him much more often? We should let people know how much we appreciate them, how much we love them.... while we can."
Therefore, to all those people out there who I love so dearly, thank you... thank you... thank you.
Yes, I tend to take David for granted. I will tell him how much I love and appreciate him when he wakes up tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIt's so important to let the people we love know it. We should all remind ourselves of this frequently.
ReplyDeletelovely post, i read it to my 11 year old grand daughter and she liked it. you are so sweet.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post Kay! Art's Aunt Gladys is a very wise woman. You should say to your love ones everyday that you love them and thank you! We try and do that in our family as much as possible. Everytime we leave each other or before we hang up the phone from each other we say I love you! 3 small little words can mean so much!
ReplyDeleteKay, this post was heart-warming. It brought me to tears actually! How wise your Aunt Gladys is and her words made such an impact. We try to say I Love You to each child, every phone call to or from them and even to each other in phone calls! How wonderful three simple words are and what a powerful impact they make. Hope you are healing well!
ReplyDeleteThe special dish that you brought also said,"I love you."
ReplyDeleteLove ya is the ending of all our family calls...habit now.
Oh, yes, it is so important to let our family and friends know how much we love them! It sounds like you guys had a great day and that's wonderful!
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, much love to you, Kay! Love your posts and am always so very happy to see your comments on mine. They do mean a lot!
Two things we always did in our house...1. Never go to bed angry at someone; even if you had to stay up all night talking, and 2. Always say "I love you" (accompanied with a hug and kiss)before leaving the house. I must admit though, now that they're grown, Barry is the only child that still practices the hug part. He was always our Huggy Bear. The other two will say I love you before hanging up on the phone though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful wise women Aunt Gladys is. Thank you for reminding us to tell the ones we love how much they mean to us before you can't say it to them anymore!
ReplyDeleteI love you Kay, thank you for being my friend!
Its a great reminder Kay and beautiully written.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you every time I come and visit I just let out a big sigh at that beautiful dumpling grandaughter of yours. The cutest baby ever!
This post is wonderful, Kay, and so valuable for us to hear.
ReplyDeleteLove ya' back, Kay. Wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteAwww...what a sweet post and your Aunt is right....we still have time...
ReplyDeleteMichelle From Rambling Woods
I really enjoyed this post, Kay. It sounds like you all had a good time with Aunt Gladys.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very nice post on Memorial Day. Sadly, it no longer honors all the dead but shifts the emphasis on veterans. I served during the Korean War but I still think our old "Decoration Day" was more meaningful and I wrote about it.
My look back to the good old days on Decoration Day
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ReplyDeleteKay, your Aunt Gladys is so wise. So many find it hard to tell a loved one how much love they have for the other. We should tell them each and every day. We do this in our family. A day doesn't go by. So my dear friend, we haven't known each other for very long, but you have started the snowball rolling, it's gathering speed and growing and it carries my love to you and to Aunt Gladys, to your Mom, to Art and to all your loved ones, from our home to your home. And how is that foot today?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the deleted comment. That was me and it's late, I'm tired and there were too many typos, EVEN though I had reviewed it beforehand. Before I do any more rambling and more typos, I'm off to bed. See you tomorrow.
Ok, as soon as Himself gets home, I'll tell him: I always know that I should let him know how much I appreciate him, but when it only takes a second and means so much, there's really no reason not to just do it every day. Give my love to Aunt Gladys, and my best healing wishes to that foot of yours!
ReplyDelete:-)
Kay, thank you for sharing that with us. I'm so happy to know that this was our practice since my son was in 2nd grade. A 6yr old school mate had lost his life in an accident. I had to explain death to my son, Jeffrey, at such a young age.
ReplyDeleteI then told Jeffrey that I promised not to get fight in the morning (cuz of hurrying to get to work, or whatever); and that we would always hug and kiss and say I love you when leaving him at school, or home. We kept that practice with him, until he lost his life in February, 2006.