In the past four days, I have heard about three men who died very recently. All from heart attacks. One was a close friend of mine in high school and the other two were men who were known to members of my family. The one that was my friend was 62 years and the other two were in their very early 50’s. One died in fishing boat and just slumped over the steering wheel and one went to bed with his wife (probably told her he loved her) and never woke up.

Sometimes the greatest gift is the one we take for granted. Life itself.

I was asked a question one time that gave me great pause. The question was, if I knew I only had a short time to live, what would I do differently in my life and what changes would I make. I thought about that question for several days and realized my answer was very simple. I wouldn’t change a thing. All my family knows who I am and that I love them. There are no people I need to seek forgiveness from. My beautiful wife knows where everything is at, the wills are all in order, the finances are up to date, the words ‘I love you’ have been spoken and lived out in life. I know there are more things I want to do and accomplish in this life but that is God’s decision and his choice.

I hurt for the families of men and fathers that leave this life with unresolved issues and past mistakes that they never got around to fixing. I hurt for the children who never really know if their father loved them and was proud of them. I hurt for the pain some men cause to their families because they always thought there would be more time to tell them he loved them.

My advice for anyone reading this blog post. Don’t put off what you know you must do. Keeping with the title, recognize how blessed you are because you have today. KT