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How wonderful and TRUE! Love and Best Wishes for the Holidays. I've been trying to live by these very beliefs for a couple of years now. Hope to get really good at someday. I do not let my Mother "save" things and she's beginning to see the reasoning behind it. I'll be reading your letter to her when she's "on". Thanks for putting it down in black and white. Sharon Starr, Daughter and CG for Rae 75/50/45 (age now/age dx/age first symptoms) [log in to unmask] Florence, AZ -----Original Message----- From: Rob & Janet McDonald jr <[log in to unmask]> To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thursday, December 10, 1998 7:37 AM Subject: Fw: ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE REGRETS???? > A Story To Live By > by Ann Wells > My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau and lifted >out a tissue-wrapped package. "This," he said, "is not a slip. This is >lingerie." He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip. It was >exquisite; silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace. The price tag >with an astronomical figure on it was still attached. "Jan bought this the >first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore >it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the >occasion." He took the slip from me and put it on the bed with the other >clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands lingered on the soft >material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me. >"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is >a special occasion." >I remembered those words through the funeral and the days that followed when >I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an >unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California >from the Midwestern town where my sister's family lives. I thought about all >the things that she hadn't seen or heard or done. I thought about the things >that she had done without realizing that they were special. >I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my life.. I'm >reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting on the deck 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 in committee meetings. Whenever >possible, life should be a pattern of experience to savor, not 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, the first >camellia blossom. >I wear my good blazer to the market if I feel like it. My theory >is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of >groceries without wincing. I'm not saving my good perfume for special >parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that >function as well as my party-going friends'. >"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 my sister would have done had she known that she >wouldn't be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would >have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a >few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like >to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner,her favorite food. I'm >guessing-I'll never know. >It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if >I knew that my hours were limited. Angry because I put off seeing good >Friends whom I was going to get in touch with-someday. 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 husband and daughter 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, I tell myself that it is special. >Every day, every minute, every breath truly is...a gift from God. >If you've received this it is because someone cares for you >and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care. >If you're too busy to take the few minutes that it would >take right now to forward this, would it be the first time you didn't do >that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships? I >can tell you it certainly won't be the last. I don't have to make up silly >stories about people being hit by buses or crushed by falling disco balls >for not sending this letter on. You've seen the result of this neglect in >your own relationships that you have allowed to fade, dissolve, and fall >into disrepair. >Take this opportunity to set a new trend. 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. It's even better if they're not the people you >already correspond with every week. The more people that you send this to, >the better. And the better you'll get and reaching out to those you care >about. Send this to those that you care about. Do it, and reap what you sow: >luck in love, people who care for you, and that warm glowy feeling that >comes from loving others. Don't do it, and suffer the consequences of being >alone, wrapped up in your own affairs, and being too busy to do the things >you actually care about. >May love litter your life with blessings! >JUST SEND IT!! > >"You've got to dance like nobody's watching, and love like it's never going >to hurt." >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." > >Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. >'Pooh!' he whispered. >'Yes, Piglet?' >'Nothing,' said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. >'I just wanted to be sure of you.'" > > >I will not drag you along; I will not leave you alone; I will stand by you >and have my hand there for you to hold when you need to. >