A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear
drawer and picked up a silk paper
wrapped package:

"This," he said "isn't any
ordinary package."

He unwrapped the box
and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

"She got this the first time we went to New York ,
8 or 9 years ago.
She has never put it on.

Was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I guess this is it."
 
He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other
clothing he was taking to the funeral house.
His wife had just died.

He turned to me and said:
"Never save something for a special occasion.
Every day in your life is a special occasion".
 
I still think those words
changed my life.

Now I read more
and clean less.

I sit on the porch
without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be
 a source of experience
to be lived up to,
not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.
I use crystal glasses every day..
I'll wear new clothes to go to
the supermarket if I feel like it.

I don't save my special perfume
for special occasions.
I use it whenever I want to.

The words
 "Someday..."
and
"One Day..."
are fading away from my dictionary.
If it's worth seeing,
 listening or doing,
I want to see, listen or do it now.

I don't know what my friend's wife
 would have done if she knew
 she wouldn't be there
the next morning.
This, nobody can tell.

I think she might have called
her relatives and closest friends.
 She might call old friends
to make peace over past quarrels.

I'd like to think she would go out
 for Chinese, her favorite food.
It's these small things
that I would regret not doing,
if I knew my time had come

I would regret it, because
I would no longer see
the friends I would meet,
letters that I wanted to write
"One of these days".

I would regret and feel sad,
because I didn't say to my brother
 and sister, son and daughter,
not times enough at least,
how much I love them.

Now, I try not to delay,
postpone or keep anything
that could bring laughter and joy
 into our lives...
And, on each morning,
I say to myself that this could be
a special day.

Each day, each hour,
each minute, is special.

If you got this,
it's because someone
cares for you and because, probably, there's someone
you care about.

If you're too busy to send this out
to other people and you say to yourself that
you will send it
 "One of these days",
Remember that
 "One day"
 is far away...
or might never come...