"The Last Happy Day of My Life"

An acquaintance told me a very poignant story. It was about a friend of hers.

The friend shared on Facebook that his beloved daughter had just died. She was hiking and fell down a steep ravine in a freak accident. His daughter died immediately.

After disclosing this terrible news, he wrote, "Who knew that yesterday would be the last happy day of my life."

This statement is so stirring. We all go about our days fulfilling the demands of daily life. We need to get to work, or to school; children have to be dropped off and picked up. Milk has to be purchased from stores and bills paid. And yet this one mundane day could be our last happy one should tragedy strike.

I'm not going to give pat advice here about living every day as though it were your last. That is unrealistic and would only create anxiety. And I'm not going to suggest that every time you say goodbye to a loved one remember it could be the last time you see the person. There is no way we could function or be happy if we hyperfocused on potential tragedy.

But it couldn't hurt from time to time to count our blessings and experience this moment, which is fleeting and ephemeral. And it's not a bad idea to contact someone you care about but haven't spoken to or texted in a long while. Because as this sad father discovered, you never know.