It was the most beautiful day: the sun was shining, the clouds in the sky were making shapes like rubber ducks and elephants riding bicycles. I was looking forward to the weekend, for I would be spending it celebrating love with friends and family. Nothing could bring me down, for everything ahead was seemingly perfect.

When we look ahead, we only ever look forward to the glorious events that bring us further on our pursuit of happiness. We never account for the roadblocks that might hinder our journey.

When the phone rang and my mom picked up, I assumed it was probably our neighbor calling or a telemarketer. I could tell by the look on her face that something was not right.

When she told us my grandpa had an episode and was being taken to the emergency room, I felt my heart sink to my feet. The feeling drained from my head, and my thoughts became blank. I could hardly even process what was happening around me.

While my dad went to go see what was going on, I sat nervously watching TV and thinking about everything that could possibly happen. I prayed that it was not a stroke or a heart attack. I prayed and prayed that he would be OK.

Because I was not ready to lose a loved one. When you get the call that something is wrong with someone you love, you can’t help but think of what the worst case scenario would be. And you can’t even comprehend going on with life without them.

The littlest things mean the most. You wonder what the world would be like without their quirks and bad jokes. You had plans to see them soon, and the thought of those plans falling through is sickening. So you pray a little more.

And when it turns out that everything is going to be OK, your lungs fill with relief. The world realigns and you turn to God in gratitude. Thank goodness that everything is OK.

It’s moments like these that make us appreciate everything that we have been given. When the thought of it being taken away crosses our minds, we cannot fathom a world without them. While all of these people and things that we treasure are fleeting, we never are willing to release them when necessary. Therefore, we must love with everything we have, right now. To cherish every moment spent with the people we love most, to never forget how special they are to this world.