This Thanksgiving was a highly anticipated one. For a year now, my Uncle had been making plans to fly us out to Saskatchewan and host a grand Thanksgiving.
Particularly interesting, was the fact that I had not seen my Uncle for a long time. Other than his trips to the library, he rarely had contact with others and lived a solitary life. I was surprised when he began planning this Thanksgiving feast, a year in advance. For some reason, he wanted to build memories and spend time with his loved ones. He was ready to reconnect with family he hadn’t seen in years.
I wish I could tell you we had that great Thanksgiving together. I wish I could tell you he was able to meet his great nieces and reconnect with his relatives. I wish I could tell you we had the finest time, getting to know each other again.
Instead, our family gathered this past Thanksgiving weekend to commemorate my Uncle’s life. He passed away several months before our get-together.
In the movie, One Week, the main character, Ben Tyler discovers he has stage 4 cancer that has spread throughout his entire body. Upon learning this, Ben asks his doctor how much time he has left to live. When the doctor gives him a ballpark number, Ben desperately seeks clarity, “At minimum”, Ben says. The doctor says nothing. Alarmed, Ben desperately asks, “What’s the minimum?” To which the doctor soberly replies, “There isn’t one”.
There is no minimum in life.
When people are taken before their time, I am reminded how quickly death steals from the hope life brings. We think our tomorrow is certain. We think our days are guaranteed. We think we will live to a certain age, a certain stage. But none of us know how much longer we have.
My Uncle thought he had more time, and so did we. While it is good to plan for tomorrow, the true blessings are in the moments we have today.
There is no minimum in life.
How true and how sobering this is. With this truth in mind, how grateful I am for each day I have the privilege to live and breathe.