You never know
when it is time for someone
to go.

Any time you meet a person
it might be the last time
you see him or her.

This we know, logically.
But we don’t know when it is time.

Or sometimes we do.
Like my grandma seemed to know
as she was bidding me farewell
me leaving for home
after visiting her
in another country.

She was pretty old
and ill so she knew
that the probabilities were dead against
another reunion.

I did not.
I was too young.

But whether we are old or young
we are always in the danger zone
of not seeing them anymore.

Any of them.

Which makes seeing them all the more precious.

Which makes being alive all the more precious.

And when we do hear the news
of them passing
our true emotions are weighed.

How much we cared.
How much we loved.
How much we are going to miss them.

Another relative is gone.
Another hole in my heart.
Another set of memories
oh so precious
taking their rightful place.

Tell someone today
that you love them.