Story Time with Susie – Don’t let it be too little too late

Loving people while they’re here

Have you ever attended a funeral or memorial service and thought to yourself, “what a beautiful tribute to such an incredible person… If only they were here to see it.” Unfortunately as we continue to get older, death more increasingly becomes such an apparent and inevitable part of life. But it seems that it isn’t until after someone passes that people feel led to express their love or appreciation for that person. The Facebook posts of adoration flood in, the stories of the impact that person had come to light… But the person who should really have been privy to all of those kind words is no longer with us and not able to experience that outpour of love.

This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about as we prepare to have my brother Matt’s memorial service. I remember last year when he passed, the amount of people who shared stories of their love for Matt was astounding. But he was gone and had no idea. That makes me so sad. 

Why do we wait until someone is gone to express our love for them?

Let’s do something about that. Let’s celebrate each other, each and every day.

I’m not saying that we need to have parties for people every day. But if you’re thinking about someone, shoot them a text of encouragement or give them a call to tell them you love them. Heck, maybe even send them a heartfelt card sharing a time they impacted your life that they may not know about. It doesn’t need to be a big gesture, it just needs to come from a genuine place, and I guarantee that you’ll make that person’s day.

Rishone receiving a book filled with notes of love and appreciation from his friends at his 34th surprise birthday party

If you wanna take it a step further, especially for someone who’s really important to you, take some time to think about what would make them feel loved. Maybe you can create a scrapbook of your friendship/relationship, write them a poem, or make them a meal. Or you can reach out to other people who are close to the person to collect notes filled with love that you can compile together.

Let’s start getting intentional with how we treat others, especially those who we care about most. Take it from me; you don’t want to simply wait and think, ‘oh I’ll get to it tomorrow or next week.’ No, do it NOW! Cause another day is not guaranteed.

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