A day that was gone and taken for granted

A year ago today I worked in my Dad’s yard with him for the last time. I did not know it at the time but in just a few short days Dad would go to the hospital and never return home again. As I thought about this today I was sad that I did not cherish that day, I thought just as I had thought every other day that Dad would be there on July 4th just like he always was watching the parade with us, he was not, nor will he be again. As we worked in the yard I was told “slow down”, “don’t work so hard”,”why don’t you come in and cool off” and “I am not going to tell you again, you are done”. And how did I respond? “Dad, I will be done when I am finished and not before, just go on I am almost there”. Dad was just showing concern for me just two months before I had, had a stroke like event while he was in Spain visiting my brother, I think it scared him a little, although he never said.
As I look back on that day, I wished I would have taken my time and worked slower and with Dad and not just in the same place as Dad, really I worked around Dad I was in a hurry to get that done so that I could get home and do things at my house. The work was good therapy for me and I enjoyed being out working, something that I thought I might not be able to do just a few weeks before. If I would have worked slower or worked with Dad it wouldn’t have changed anything but it would have been a few more minutes and maybe something would have been exchanged between the two of us or my boys would have seen us together working, sweating and maybe even laughing together. The moment came and went like so many others and I did not give it a thought then, but today I thought about it. I hope that you think about it and spend that extra few moments to linger with those around you that you would miss their laugh or the feel of their hand if they weren’t to come home tomorrow.