Loved Ones | My Good Time Stories

man holding brown leather bi fold wallet with money in it

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In today’s world, many people spend many, many hours working hard to earn money that they will need. Unfortunately, many people put so much time and effort into their work that they quite often forget about the important things in life, spending quality time with their family and friends. Today’s story gives us a good reminder for all of us…time is precious. Don’t neglect the time that you should spend with your loved ones.

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

“That’s none of your business. What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed.

Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours every day and don’t have time for such childish games.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

“Are you asleep son?” he asked.

“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man.

“It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy” he yelled.
Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. “Why did you want more money if you already had some? ” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”
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Share $20.00 worth of time with someone you love…just a short reminder to all of us working so hard for our living. However, let us not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some quality time with those who really matter to us.
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Value Your Time.

Value Your Family.

Value Your Friends.

Photo Credit: Ladyheart via morguefile.com

This past year has been one of the most heart-wrenching and hardest years of my life. It was a week before Christmas, last year, when I lost my best friend in the world, my dad. A week or so later, as soon as I got home from his memorial service, I found out that one of my friends got killed in a snowmobile accident. He left behind a wife and a 3 year old son. From that time until today, four more people that I knew and loved passed away…but the memorial service that I attended today was one of the hardest. The service was for a man that I loved very, very much. I used to tell him that he was my second dad and he and his wife would call me their “second son.”

He was what every dad and husband should be to a family: a caring and kind father who loved his two children beyond measure. He would do anything for them and always demonstrated his love by what he did and said to them. But his wife was his queen. He treated her like royalty. She was the one that he absolutely loved, cherished and adored. It was evident by the way they looked, talked, and spent time with each other. She was truly, in every sense of the word, his “soul-mate.” I used to always tell the two of them, if I was to look up the word “soul-mate” in the dictionary, I would find a picture of them next to the word.

My friend loved life to the fullest and he loved to laugh…it was SO infectious to the people around him. A few years ago, he was diagnosed with having pancreatic cancer which was the disease that sadly took his life four days ago. During the past month or so, when they found out that the disease was not progressing in the right direction, my friend and his wife decided to spend their precious remaining time together talking about how blessed they were and looking back during their 52 years of marriage…they had no regrets (other than having more time together). Their love for each other was complete and unconditional. They expressed a true love for each other that was apparent to everyone that knew them.

I sat there and thought to myself, how many of us, when we are at the end of our lives here on earth, will be able to say to our spouse and loved ones, that we had no regrets. How many of us, even now, have regret about things that we never did or said to the ones that we love? How many of us might regret something that we may have done or said to someone? Regret is a strong emotion and it can cause a lot of grief and sadness to a person…if they allow it. So make it a goal, each day, to live without regret. Take time to do or say something special with your better half each day, while time is still on your side…so that you can someday say to the ones you love, that the life you shared with them was a blessing and, most importantly…you had no regrets.