Time

Truth be told as I enter my ninth month of aveilus, I feel as if I have been in mourning for “a long time”. Eight plus months of saying kaddish, the stress and logistics that go with it, and all the other restrictions and practices are all becoming a bit “old”. I must admit, I have begun to look forward to my aveilus ending and getting back to a normal life. Eight months of aveilus feels like a “long time” to me.

Time

This weekend we visited two shiva houses mourning for parents who lived long and full lives – in one case a mother who lived to be over one hundred years old.  It is amazing how quickly even one hundred years can go. Time in these shiva houses did not feel like a “long time”. Time, as my wife put it, is like a “the blink of an eye”.

Time

The mourning process should teach us that time is our most valuable commodity. No matter how long we may live our time is limited and in short quantity. We can either waste our time on this earth or we can make the most of it by making a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. But we cannot and should not take time for granted. For no matter how much time we think there is available to us at any given moment, it will be over in split second.

Eight months does not feel like a “long time” any more.