Not Enough Time

Newly married, she wanted to take a honeymoon, just a short trip so they could spend time together, even if just for the weekend. When she asked him if they could, he responded, "We'll have time for a honeymoon later. I just started this new job, and we need the money for the house."

She was disappointed, but she understood.

A few years down the road, she said to her husband one evening, "I want to have a baby, a son or a daughter, our own little family. Can we talk about having children?"

He replied, "We'll have plenty of time for kids later. Right now, I've got this promotion coming up and there's a pay raise coming soon if it goes through. We'll have more money and make time to plan a family later."

When, a few years later, the woman wanted to take a vacation to see Paris, a place she'd always longed to go, the man said to her, "There's no time for that now. The merger is going on, and I have to be here until it's over. Why don't you go with your mother?"

Eventually, the woman became pregnant, and when she went into labor, her husband was in a meeting and told his secretary, "I don't have enough time to get there and finish the meeting too."

Their son was born, and the man arrived at the hospital thirty minutes later. When the boy was older, he came to his dad and asked, "Dad, can you come watch my game on Friday?"

"I'm sorry, son, I'm not going to have time for that. Your mom will be there though." Dejected, the boy walked away, his head low, vowing he would never ask again. He learned early on that his father just didn't have time for him.

Twenty years passed; the son grew into a man and started his own life. One day, tired of always being alone, the wife turned to her husband and saaid, "Can we finally take that honeymoon we never had?'

"I would love to, honey, but I don't know where I'm going to find the time. Maybe we can go when I retire. I'm a full partner now, and I have responsibilities."

"You have a responsibility to me too, and you've neglected that," she said, and then turned and walked out of the room, without another word. That night, the man slept on the couch and left for work early the next morning to avoid the cold stares and icy back of his wife in their own bed.

As the day wound on, he began to feel guilty about how he had treated her. Glancing at the picture on his desk of his wife and son, a sentimental feeling washed over him. He picked up the phone, punched the button to his secretary and asked her to connect him on the line to a florist. After he finished his phone call, he grabbed his jacket and his keys and walked out of his office, telling his secretary, "I'm taking the day off. If anyone asks where I am, tell them I'm spending the afternoon with my wife."

He only had one errand to run before he went home.

Once finished with his errand, he drove to their house, only to be met by his son in the driveway, frantic. The younger man came running up to his father and said, "Dad, Mom's been taken to the hospital. Come on, I'll drive you. Hurry, there's not much time."

Standing next to his wife's hospital bed, he held her hand, watching the life slip from her. He looked skyward with tears in his eyes and said, "Please, God, just give me a little more time. Just a little more time. I haven't had enough time."

Three days later at the funeral, when his son came to console him, the man said to his son, "It was too soon. I wasn't ready for her to go yet. If only there had been more time, more time..." his voice broke as the tears filled his eyes.

He reached into his overcoat pocket to find a handkerchief to wipe his eyes. His fingers touched something flat. He pulled out the envelopes in his pocket and stared at them. He had forgotten he had purchased the two first-class tickets to Paris the afternoon his wife had been rushed to the hospital.

He held them out to his son and said, "Here, take your wife on a trip." He sniffled. "I always meant to take your mom. I thought we'd have more time."
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Don't put off to tomorrow... Right here on AC, a woman declared she wanted to write a novel some day, but she never found the time. Last year, she died, and we all mourned her passing. Let her death be a lesson and warning. Dreams should be fulfilled. If you have a dream, follow it now. We are not guaranteed 'someday'. Read more from Michy here.