“I hate you!” the girl screamed, flinging any object her shaking fingers came in contact with. The victim was the girl’s mother. Tears flowing silently over the daughters flushed face, her mouth was gasping for air to fuel her anger. Usually their fights didn’t end up so heated but the little things finally stacked up. The woman grabbed her keys and flung open the door. She looked back at her enraged daughter and spoke. “You will regret that.” The door slammed and the girl never saw her mother alive again.

Often times people take things for granted and don’t fully realize how important they are until they are gone. You hear stories like this one a lot and are shocked as to how people could be so cruel. But think of the times of hate and how words have escaped you, instantly wishing you could turn back the clock. The same feelings befell on the girl, even more pressing when the police arrived an hour later to inform the girl of her mother’s accident.

Years later the girl would be out shopping for her children’s Christmas presents when she would be reminded of that fateful night. Outside of one of the department stores, a daughter was screaming at her mother. It was full blown rage most likely uncharacteristic of the girl. But what surprised the young onlooker the most was how familiar the scene looked. She went up to the mother and told her, “Don’t leave your daughter angry.” Then she turned and walked inside the store.

She found the restrooms and entered a stall. She broke down. Her feelings that she had keep inside her for so long were finally escaping and rendered her useless, her emotions were uncontrollable. She wished to be able to hold her mother just once more and to tell her she was sorry, so sorry, for the way she had treated her so many years back. Her life had been missing something since her mother’s unexpected passing.

When she left the restroom, she felt slightly relieved. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she felt more whole than she had in years. There was something comforting about the silence of the street when she left the store. She had the feeling that everything worked out just fine, or would eventually, between the mother and daughter she had seen recently. The young motherless woman who was now a mother herself went back to her car with newfound wisdom.

Life is too short to waste it on selfishness and anger. Love and cherish everything and everyone you come in contact with because they may only be here for so long. Hold those you love tight and think before you speak; it may be the last thing they hear.