"If I Had My Life To Live Over" by Erma Bombeck

This is an excerpt from a poem written by the late Erma Bombeck after she discovered she had a terminal illness

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more...

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth...

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains...

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime...

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more “I love you’s”.. More “I’m sorrys”