Life is short, forgive and forget

To the editor:

At one time or another we have all taken that dreadful trip to the hospital. We might be getting a treatment of our own, or as a visiter. Whatever the case may be, it is a time when family and friends rally together. Suddenly those things we could be holding on to seem less important and are pushed aside. There might be a brother that you have not spoken to in years over some petty argument, or misunderstanding.

It could be a mother who has always been taken for granted. Maybe it’s the baby brother who you never found time for.

Now we think about all the bedtime stories that were never read; all the extra hugs and kisses and telling someone how much they are loved. There was that promise you made to your son, that you would come, and get him on the weekend but never came.

So here it is, you might have a brother who gets treated as a total stranger or a friend who is as close to you as a brother. Father, mother, uncle, daughter are all mere words unless we at least try to live up to them. They say that life is too short and in an instance it can be gone, there are no guarantees. Still in many cases there might still be time to set things straight, and make them right. You might be having a perfectly good day only to receive word that someone you care about has been rushes to the hospital.

It was a mid-summer day absolutely beautiful, when I received word that my baby brother had a horrific accident and was taken to the hospital. By the time I got there, he was already gone, he was 23.

I still think about all the fishing trips we never took, the one on ones out on the court that should have been played, or us just chilling, watching a movie. I guess that’s just the way things go sometimes, right, but does it really have to be that way?

My brother left me with two nephews, though, and as the weather gets nice, you can find the three of us out on the court clowning around playing basketball or at one of our favorite fishing spots just like last summer and even the summers before that.

H. Kent Bowles

Hudson