love continues...

A True Story of 
Courage and Love

Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia in 1977, I saw a water puddle ahead on the path.  I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water and mud.  As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked!

Yet I did nothing, for the attack was so unpredictable and from a source so totally unexpected.  I was startled as well as unhurt, despite having been struck four or five times already.  I backed up a foot, and my attacker stopped attacking me.  Instead of attacking more, he hovered in the air on graceful butterfly wings in front of me.  Had I been hurt, I wouldn't have found it amusing, but I was unhurt.  It was funny, and I was laughing.  After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!

Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward.  My attacker rushed me again.  He rammed me in the chest with his head and body, striking me over and over again with all his might, still to no avail.  For a second time, I retreated a step while my attacker relented in his attack.

Yet again, I tried moving forward.  My attacker charged me again.  I was rammed in the chest over and over again.  I wasn't sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time.  After all, it's just not every day that one is attacked by a butterfly.  This time, though, I stepped back several paces to look the situation over.  My attacker moved back as well to land on the ground.  That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier.

He had a mate and she was dying.  She was beside the puddle where he landed.  Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her.  I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate.  He had taken it upon himself to attack me for his mate's sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large.  He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should I have been careless enough to step on her.

Now I knew why and what he was fighting for.  There was really only one option left for me.  I carefully made my way around the puddle to the other side of the path, though it was only inches wide and extremely muddy.  His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate's safety justified it.  I couldn't do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the puddle.  He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.  I left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from my boots when I later reached the car.

Since then, I always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge obstacles facing me.   I use that butterfly's courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

Author unknown

If I Knew

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'd 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,
and whisper in their ear,
that you love them very much and
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.