Amanda's Message

*Warning: If you are anything like me, you may want to grab a tissue (or a whole box of them) before reading this.

I was hoping to be able to post the videos of the rest of Amanda's interview, but they were never put on the news' website. In the later part of the interview, Amanda ended with a bit of a message. I know I'm not going to say it like she did, but the gist of the message was that she hopes that after others hear her story that they won't take their families for granted. In some ways it brings her comfort knowing that families are spending more time together and cherishing that time after hearing what happened to her family.

I posted this before, but I thought it fit well with this post and wanted to share it again. It's a poem that Amanda asked to be read at her family's funeral:

If Tomorrow Never Comes

If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say "I love you," instead of assuming, you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day,
well, I'm sure you'll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance to make everything right.

There will always be another day to say our "I love you's",
And certainly there's another chance to say our "Anything I can do's?"

But just in case I might be wrong and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget,
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you'll surely regret the day,
That you didn't take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them and that you'll always hold them dear,
Take time to say "I'm sorry," "please forgive me," "thank you" or "it's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.

Author Unknown

Amanda has also mentioned a song to me that she feels is so true now, more than ever, that I would like to end this post with. Here is the YouTube video of Kenney Chesney's "Don't Blink":