Life’s a Conversation

Today, while dropping off my kids at school, I decided to play with my kids a litte bit. I rolled down the window and began to tell them “I love you” repeatedly. They began yelling back “I love you too, dad!” They jogged and skipped along side the car as we drove away. I could tell that the person monitoring the car line was visibly agitated. As my sons passed by, the person gave them a little “what for” and scrunched their face at me letting me know their disdain.

I guess they just don’t realize how important the end of a conversation can be. You see, those words just might be the last words spoken. We just don’t know what the next minutes of our lives hold. Years ago my father went to the bed side of his best friend as he was approaching heaven. Just before his friends departure, he looked over at my dad and said, “I’ll see you soon, Howard.” Those were the last words they shared together. When my dad arrived back home, he took me aside and shared how much those few words meant too him. He was so moved by those words that it became the inspiration for a life long commitment.

Make sure that your last words with someone are words to remember! The morning before my mother lost consciousness, I went to see her. She was the best I had seen her in weeks. She was talking, her sentences were short with very few words, I don’t really remember anything we talked about. My joy at hearing her speak overwhelmed the content of the conversation. However, as I was walking out the door, heading off to work, I looked back one more time. In a shallow whisper she said, ” I love you son.”

I will never forget those wonderful words. I hang on those words at times. I only have one picture of her in my house at the moment because I’m not yet able to deal with the emotions related to all that happened with her. There were too many dark days that I sat beside the bed looking for small glimmers of hope. I shut out of my mind the vision of her being wheeled back into the hospital the last time with her face distorted. What I remember are those four words she spoke to me for the very last time. She never spoke again after that. The face I see is the one that looked at me as I walked away, her eyes filled with purpose, struggling to make sure that if she never saw me again she had said, “I Love You.”

Life is a conversation: It has a greeting, it has a body, and it has a salutation. Make sure you always end your conversation with words worth remembering.