Celebrate The Lasts As Well As The Firsts

Have you ever wondered how many times in your life were “lasts”? Do you remember the last time your mom brushed your hair? Or the last time you had to tie the shoelace of your youngster? People always celebrate “firsts” but it is difficult to celebrate “lasts” because they are hard to recognize.

Our lives change daily. In the blink of an eye something can happen that will change the way we do things, or the way we see things, or the way our lives work. Unexpected events can happen at any moment.

Five years ago I could rake my front lawn with minimum pain at the end of winter. I wasn’t suffering the intense arthritis pain. The soreness I felt from raking went away in a day. When was the last day I could rake my front lawn without suffering?  I don’t remember.

So often we miss things because they happen gradually. Slowly we just start to reduce the frequency we do something until one day it is the last time. And we don’t do it again. I used to take walks to my stepson’s house. Walking was a silent pleasure for me, but living in cold Wisconsin I didn’t do it during the winter. And one summer I just didn’t go back out walking again. I was too sore. I didn’t know the last walk was going to be the last walk for me.

Today I wanted to rake my front lawn. My husband started it for me, but today he had plans to go fishing with his nephew. So I thought I would attempt to work on it myself despite my body’s disabilities. I found it to be rather difficult to try to rake with a walking stick to help support me when my ankles didn’t want to. The rake wasn’t strong enough to hold me up. I did get some raking done, but it took me forever. I may have just experienced another “last”. My husband told me not to rake any more.

Today I learned of the passing of a man I knew. He was someone who worked at the job I just quit a month ago. I think the combination of hearing of his death and realizing my raking days are over put my mind to the thought of “last”. How many lasts do we never notice?

Celebrate the things you love every day. Celebrate them while you can. Because one day, you won’t be able to. And you probably won’t remember your “last”.