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If Tomorrow Never Comes

Carey Portell — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 00:31:00 +0000

Scouring our digital photos for a specific one I was searching for, I clicked on this image. At once, I stopped, filled with emotions and memories flooding my thoughts.

December 25th, 2010. One day after my thirty-fifth birthday, four days before our family would be forced to adapt to a new way of living.

The next image that enlarged on my computer screen was this one.

My heart nearly fell out of my chest. Our family, our children, our world. Almost lost.

"What if's" came to my mind for the first time ever about the footings we poured as the foundation of our little tribe we had formed.

"What if" we knew what was going to happen just days from when this photo was taken, would we have absorbed more from this memory?

"What if" we would have slowed down more instead of just talking about it?

"What if" we wouldn't have let the stressors of this life disturb us so much?

"What if" one of us hadn't lived, would the rest of us know how much we loved them?

That's the one that became my main focus. Had I not lived, would the rest of my family understand how much love my heart holds for them?

We cannot use "what if's" to look at or change our past, we can use them to look at and change our future.

I have been working on this concept for five years now. Not thinking about "what if's" and just doing what my heart feels regardless of life's circumstances.

It can be so hard at times, so hard to keep that positive outlook with the negativity influencing our posse of six.

Our teenagers may not want me to hug or tell them that I love them, but I'm doing it anyway because it is true. They may not want to take things as slow as I do, to stop the moment so I can cuddle up in it and feel the warmth surrounding me, but I'm going to do it anyway.

My husband may appear bashful as I stroke his ego for stepping up and choosing to be the protector, mentor and leader of our family until I could again stand by his side in partnership, but I will continue to lift him up with praise. When our lives fell apart, he dug in his heels instead making an exit.

My hopes are that each of us will have no regrets of not showing enough affection, not saying I love you or of not sharing in the memories. At the end of our lives, creating memories are all that really matter, all that we truly look back on and there should be no anguish over, "What if" I had done more.

When I view these images, no matter if they seem insignificant or historic, that these are moments, memories in the making, that we would have lost out on.

If my tomorrow never comes, as it almost did, my family will know how much I loved them, they will know I tried in every way, they will know how much they fill my heart.

The post If Tomorrow Never Comes first appeared on Carey Portell.

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Carey Portell — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 00:31:00 +0000

Scouring our digital photos for a specific one I was searching for, I clicked on this image. At once, I stopped, filled with emotions and memories flooding my thoughts.

December 25th, 2010. One day after my thirty-fifth birthday, four days before our family would be forced to adapt to a new way of living.

The post If Tomorrow Never Comes first appeared on Carey Portell.