For One More Day

I was watching the "Oprah Winfrey Show" yesterday and they were promoting the movie "For One More Day". The movie is from a book by Mitch Albom, the author of "Tuesdays with Morris". The story is about a man who gets the chance to spend one more day with his mother, who died 8 years earlier.

In the show, Oprah also talked about the author of the series of books "Don't sweat the small stuffs", Richard Carlson. He was considered to be one of the foremost experts on happiness and stress reduction in the United States and around the world. Richard Carlson died in 2006 of a pulmonary embolism (blockage in one of the main artery) during a flight,while on a promotion tour for his book Don’t Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant and Downright Mean-Spirited People (2006). Oprah revealed on her show that Richard wrote hundreds of love letters to his wife and his 2 daughters. "He was an angel," said her daughter, "He was the most loving person and was always there for us. He was my best friend."

My tears was just flowing down my cheeks as I was watching the show, while Ivan was looking at me totally puzzled. So I had to wipe them away fast and smile at him just to assure him that I'm ok.

This show makes me think seriously (which is very rare nowadays.... my life is very peaceful usually ^_^). What will I regret not doing if this is the last day of my life? What will I regret if I know that this will be the last time I see my love ones as I sent them out through the door? These thoughts are horrible and unbearable, but what will I regret?

Coincidentally, I received a love letter from Angel today.

It's in swedish with misspelled words and words which are joined together in the strangest way.

It says,

" This letter is for my daddy and mommy I love you

You will be my parents best

parents for always" (she made a mistake at the end and was trying to show with arrows that the last word is supposed to be after the word before - if that makes sense...)

She gave me this letter in the evening when it was almost time for them to go to bed. After all the nagging, scolding and frustration they got from me, she gave me this letter. I feel so guilty suddenly. Why can't I say more loving words to them more often? Why can't I give them more encouragement when they talk about new skills they have learnt?

After sending kiddos and Lars off in the morning to school and work, I wondered,

"Do they really know how much I love them before they walk out of the door?"