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I went along to a funeral yesterday. It wasn’t a guy I knew very well, he was the long term partner / fiancée of a lady from my coffee group. I’d only met him a couple of times but he always came across as a genuine down to earth bloke. When I heard about his death last week, I immediately thought of those he had left behind. I just cant imagine how his partner is still standing, and his son who is the same age as Matthew doesn’t quite have the long term memory to remember him.

I went along to the funeral to pay my respects. It was a lovely service, lots of photos, nice words, great memories, tears. It’s amazing the things you find out about a persons life once they are gone. Everyone who spoke had a great story to tell and I feel like after hearing the eulogies I know the guy just a little bit more. A guy who never asked for anything but always had something to give. A guy who was proud of his family, loved cooking and eating, and a guy who had a smile no matter what the situation.

I’m still feeling quite raw from the funeral. Yesterday I was just wiped all afternoon. My eyes had that tired feeling from crying at the funeral and my mind was all over the place. Today I’m feeling a bit better but it’s still hit me a bit harder than I thought it would. Got me thinking a bit. About life, how lucky I am, how much I appreciate what I have. How life is short, too short not to take chances, too short not to say sorry when you are wrong. Too short to let the little things get to you.

But it’s hard. It’s hard not to let life get in the way. I know I struggle with this, it’s something I need to work on.

So make sure you give your loved ones a big hug. Take a risk, take a chance. Find something small that bothers you and let it go. Decide what is important to you in life. Because it sucks that it takes a funeral to remind you of these things.