If I Knew Then.....

Christmas is the time of year when we get into a celebratory mood. We bring out our best garments, our best recipes, our sincerest form of love. It's a time when we can say "I love you" through many different channels. Please think about your loved ones during this lovely season as you read this message:

If I knew this would be our very last day together, I'd kiss you goodnight and ask God to bless you forever and ever.

If I knew when you left for work today that I might never see you again, I would kiss you and embrace you and call you back from the front porch for "just one more kiss."

If I knew that the sound of your voice would fade from my memory, I would record every event of our last day together and cherish and enjoy it over and over again because you were gone.

If I knew we'd be meeting for the last time, I would spare all my extra minutes to be sure you knew all the details of just how much I love you instead of assuming that you do.

If I knew this would be our last time together, I'd cancel all my plans and weave into our day all the joy I could and not think "Ah, it's just another day!"

If I knew there would be no tomorrows to right any wrongs; no more second chances, I would treat you impeccably well today.

If I knew today was the end, that I couldn't say "I love you" directly to you again, that I'd never be able to ask you "What can I do to help you?" I want to be deeply aware to treat you well today.

Now, I may be wrong. Today may be all I get, so I want to be sure you know how much I love and cherish you. None of us is promised "Sure, there will always be another tomorrow." It's important to love and hold your loved ones tightly and encounter no regrets.

Take time to give them an extra smile, a special kiss, to fulfill a wish you might not have a chance to fulfill if today is the last day of your togetherness. Hold them close and say that you love them and that you will always cherish them dearly. Make sure you don't carry forward into tomorrow the "I'm sorry", the "Forgive me" the "You are so special" that you can accomplish today for those you love.

I don't think anything could be worse than staring into an empty future without those you love and to have to think "If I'd only known, I'd have told them."

"It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!" ~ Charles Dickens