www.womanthismonth.com 79 August 2014 When you are growing up, people tell you sayings that will last with you forever. Most seem silly and unimportant at the time. Look before you leap. Never save until tomorrow what you can achieve today. I thought in my 40-year-old mind that I lived and breathed the latter adage. I did most things on the spur of the moment out of fear that if I waited, something might happen negatively. I was not as much a believer of the prophecies of my youth as I thought and in the end I lost everything. Twelve months ago, a phone call from my father irreparably changed my life forever. Mother was gravely ill. I live in Bahrain; they live in Australia. At best, it was a two-day flight via Dubai and a date change as it is half a world away. At worst, with layovers in other ports, it’ll take three days. In the end, the trip home took four days, a day added because I had to go to work to finalise important matters. Sadly, mother could not wait as long as it took me to venture home from our island nation half a planet from my ancestral home. The trip home took a lifetime — hers! In the end, the loyalty I should have shown was to my mother, who loved me unceasingly and without question. It shouldn’t have been to a boss, who in the cold light of reality could replace me in a heartbeat — and did. From this I can advise everyone of one thing. Money means nothing; love means everything. A phone call to say you love someone takes seconds and means a heart filled with pleasure and happiness. I was lucky that I had awoken a few days before my mother’s death and felt like telling her that I loved her. She left filled with love in her heart. Left motherless for the remainder of my days, it will never seem enough. I wish I had called more, visited often, and never let a day go by without telling her how thankful I was to have her as my mother and just how much joy having her on this Earth meant to me. Never leave until tomorrow what you can achieve today. We all watch too many movies and TV shows, which dull our senses into the belief that perhaps a miracle could happen. The truth does not have a Hollywood ending. Some things cost a fortune and are worth nothing. I had not visited her in a few years as I never seemed to have enough money to afford the flight. In the end with the seriousness of the phone call on that unforgettable night in August, money meant nothing. Speed and urgency meant everything, but my timing was still too late. In the end, I survived the cost of the flight home and the 10 days away from work. My mother did not. A phone call can give you peace of mind for the remainder of your years. If you work hard and save hard, then use your money to tell those who mean everything just how much you feel about them every single day and not just in times of need. The cost of not doing so is just far too high a price to pay. he says by JAMES CLAIRE Most of us live more than a direct flight from home. For some it takes hours; for others it takes days. A year ago this month, a flight I was on took an entire lifetime. Trip of a Lifetime
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