"I
Hope You Dance..."
This was written by an
83-year-old woman to her friend. *The last line
says it all. *
Dear Bertha,
I'm reading more and
dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and
admiring the view
without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm
spending more time with
my family and friends and less time working.
Whenever possible, life
should be a pattern of experiences to savor,
not to endure. I'm
trying to recognize these moments now and cherish
them.
I'm not "saving"
anything; we use our good china and crystal for every
special event such as
losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or
the first Amaryllis
blossom.
I wear my good blazer
to the market. My theory is if I look
prosperous, I can shell
out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I'm
not saving my good
perfume for special parties, but wearing it for
clerks in the hardware
store and tellers at the bank.
"Someday" and "one of
these days" are losing their grip on my
vocabulary. If it's
worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see
and hear and do it now
I'm not sure what
others would've done had they known they wouldn't be
here for the tomorrow
that we all take for granted. I think they would
have called family
members and a few close friends. They might have
called a few former
friends to apologize and mend fences for past
squabbles. I like to
think they would have gone out for a Chinese
dinner or for whatever
their favorite food was.
I'm guessing; I'll
never know.
It's those little
things left undone that would make me angry if I
knew my hours were
limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain
letters that I intended
to write one of these days. Angry and sorry
that I didn't tell my
parents often enough how much I truly love them.
I'm trying very hard
not to put off, hold back, or save anything that
would add laughter and
luster to our lives. And every morning when I
open my eyes, tell
myself that it is special.
If you received this,
it is because someone cares for you. If you're
too busy to take the
few minutes that it takes right now to forward
this, would it be the
first time you didn't do the little thing that
would make a difference
in your relationships? I can tell you it
certainly won't be the
last.
Take a few minutes to
send this to a few people you care about, just
to let them know that
you're thinking of them.
"People say true
friends must always hold hands, but true friends
don't need to hold
hands because they know the other hand will always
be there."
Life may not be the
party we hoped for, but while we are here we might
as well dance.