About a week ago, Den­ver expe­ri­enced some of the most amaz­ing flow­er­ing spring-ness that I’ve ever seen. But it quickly started dis­ap­pear­ing. A major wind storm blew many of the blos­soms to the ground. Then a quick hail­storm fin­ished off more of the blooms.

I was able to get out and enjoy the spring beauty by tak­ing a bicy­cle ride one day. I would have regret­ted miss­ing that short win­dow of opportunity.

If you have kids, they won’t be with you for more than maybe 18 years. If you’re mar­ried, your beloved may not be with you for­ever. If you have a dog, she may not be at your side ten years from now. I don’t say these things to be mourn­ful — but rather to remind you — and me — to make time to spend time with the ones we love today.

About the time you read this, I will have just left my Euro­pean sis­ter... we vis­ited Amy and her fam­ily in their now native Belgium.

I love her. We get along well. We have had our times of dif­fer­ences, but for the most part now we truly enjoy each other. It is a bit heart-breaking that we live so far apart.

Any­how, this art­work is from the out­side of a pack­age she sent. She re-used a pack­age our mom sent her. (Mom died around two years ago.) Amy can make art out of almost anything.

I know that it’s a long way from Thanks­giv­ing. But I’m thank­ful today. Two years ago, My mom passed away. I am thank­ful for her life and the indeli­ble influ­ence she had on me.

(This was a let­ter to the edi­tor of The Dal­las Morn­ing News that she got pub­lished on Thanks­giv­ing Day, 2000. You can see that she shared my love of writing.)

Today marks 20 years of mar­riage. Heather is an amaz­ing woman, and God has blessed us to stay together this long! We have caused each other some pain — and shared much joy too. Life is tough, but it’s a won­der­ful thing to be able to share it inti­mately and in a long-term way with another.

I am thank­ful — both to Heather and to God.

ps Michael Hyatt has some great reflec­tions on longevity here.