Taking Time Out for Things that Really Matter

A lot of people say they are going to do something and then never get around to doing it. I am pleased to say that my brother is not one of those people. A few months ago he talked about getting my dad’s side of the family together for a small family reunion and by golly he set a time and date and made it happen.

Yesterday twenty-five of my aunts, uncles and cousins joined together in my brother’s backyard to hang out and catch up. My husband who previously would have moaned about being dragged to such an event, grabbed his cameras, came up with a plan for photographs and happily drove north with me. He even blew off another photography event so that we could hang out well into the night.

On the way home I apologized for making my husband miss his other event and he said, “There will be tons of events for me to capture, but how many family reunions will there be?” It’s a good point. The family is aging and there are already a couple of serious health concerns to worry about. Hopefully we’ll get everyone together again, but as we well know nothing in life is a given.

My husband smiled and said, “we need to take the time out for things that really matter.” He also pointed out that more importantly than whether or not we wanted to be there, (although we did have a really good time), was the fact this event made my father and his brothers extremely happy. My husband’s professional quality photographs were the icing on the cake for my dad and he’s already thanked us multiple times for capturing the moment.

Now my husband and I have spent at least one day of the last three weekends with my family and he did not complain on any one of those days. In the past, I would have felt like I was dragging him to come with me, but now he actually makes the most of each of these events. I suppose he realizes how important my family is to me and how important it is to make every moment count. In fact, as odd as it sounds he’s now reminding me of the importance of every moment.

So when I delayed dinner tonight so that I could chat with my mom for sixty minutes about yesterday’s festivities I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by my husband’s words. He said, “What’s more important… eating dinner at a certain time or talking to your mom? You know it’s your mom, dinner can wait.”

I have always loved my husband, but I think I love him a little bit more tonight for reminding me of what really matters and for sacrificing a small part of himself to share in the things I love.

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