Hours of Panic and Seconds Forgotten

So my family and I had a pretty big scare this morning, we couldn't find my middle sister. To make a long story short, she wasn't where we thought she was last night or this morning and no one had heard from her. Luckily, after several hours of panicked searching, we found her. Now that isn't the point of this post. The point is that the thing that kept going through my mind while we were trying to locate her was "What was the last interaction I had with her?" I couldn't for the life of me remember. Was she even home when I'd left for dinner with friends? Did I hug her? Kiss her? Say something stupidly sarcastic, as I usually do? If something had happened to her, what was the last memory I would have? I was blank. That is a horrifying feeling. I know she knows how much I love her, and I know how much she loves me, but what if yesterday had been the last day I ever saw her? Thankfully, it wasn't, but what if it had been?

My point is we can't wait until it's too late to pay attention to how we treat each other. The saying "you don't know what you have 'til it's gone," is SO true. This morning I thought there was a chance that I would never see my little sister again, my beautiful, funny, smart, sweet little sister. I will never forget that feeling. I can't even imagine how my parents were feeling. Sick, absolutely sick. I hope you never have to go through that, and never have to feel what we did this morning. But there are no guarantees. So make every second with your loved ones count and don't ever say goodbye without a hug and a kiss and a smile. You don't want to have to be left wondering about that last moment with that person you loved and if you made it count or not. Make every minute, every second count.