Quality Time Matters

Lilly Holmes, first place

“Time spent with family is time well spent. Family is the one constant element in life” - Unknown.

Time is something that we can’t get back. On August 18, 2020, I lost my dad. I lost my partner in crime. I lost my wingman. I was sitting on the deck, just like any other warm summer day. Except it wasn’t, it would be a day that would live in sadness and horror. My mom had left to go with my aunt to the hospital and had said something about my dad being there. I was really confused and I kept wondering, how could anything be wrong? I just saw my dad the day before. I kept telling myself that he’s okay. He has to be. After a couple of hours, my mom walked out onto the deck and with tears in her eyes, told me something that I will never forget, “He didn’t make it.” I had initially thought, “He didn’t make what?” thinking maybe she meant something else. Thinking it has to mean something else, it just has to, but I already had suspected that something wasn’t right. He had suffered a heart attack while driving his truck. After hearing what had happened, I was so lost. I kept saying he’s not dead and that they had it all wrong. I kept waiting for him to walk in the doors. Hoping that this was some sort of horrible nightmare and that I’ll wake up. Even after all this time, I sometimes still think it is a nightmare. My dad was a truck driver and was gone for long periods of time. I guess I had gotten used to him not being home. Every day it felt like I was waiting. Waiting for him to come home. Waiting for him to call and tell us everything is going to be okay.

If anything, this tragic event has taught me about the value of time. We can decide what to do with our time. But we can’t go back and change it. I have learned that we have two choices when it comes to the way we use our time. One is that we watch it waste away, just watching the clock tick by every day. Or we can use that time. Using it for life’s little moments. As well as the big. Time is the greatest valued thing we can spend. Spending that time with loved ones is so important. Because you won’t get that time back to spend with them. You don’t know when you won’t have any more time to spend with them. Spending as much time with your family as your life allows you is so important.

After the passing of my dad, I have vowed to live my life differently. I vowed to spend more time with my family. Not just spending time, but making it more than that. Making that time into cherishable memories. Memories that I can look back on when I’m older. Whenever I feel like giving up, something as simple as a happy memory can turn that around. I want to fill my life with those happy memories. So I can keep them close to my heart. Not only spending more time with my family, I want to be nicer to them. Of course, I’m nice to my family, but I feel like I can do more. I am not going to get upset over the little things. I am not going to argue with my siblings just because I feel like it. I’m not going to hold grudges to my mom just because she didn’t take me somewhere. Changing my mindset from thinking that everyone is going to be here, to know that everyone’s time is limited. Making sure that I make the most of that time for the better. Truly in the end you never know when it’s someone’s last day here on earth.