Someday Bread

Irene was already well known amongst her family and friends for her amazing home baked bread. Cousin Orville in particular constantly prodded her, “Auntie Irene you need to enter your bread into the town fair! I know you’ll win!” Orville was right. Once Irene made the decision to enter her bread into the town fair, it ended up a winner almost every year. And much to Orville’s joy, Auntie Irene always gave him the winning loaf!

Orville and the rest of the family, including Irene’s daughter, were so proud of her. Watching her mom take such pride in baking the bread and entering it into the fair year after year, she vowed to follow in her footsteps one day. She wanted to learn to make bread the same way and someday, when she had children of her own, share that special experience with them.

Someday, thought Irene’s daughter, she would find the time to do this. In the meantime life kept her pretty busy. She was young, ambitious, working on building her career, raising a family and juggling a social life. All the while, she believed in her heart that someday she would have time to go back and learn from her mom how to make the award winning bread, beloved by the whole community.

She thought that when she was home with her newborn baby it would be the perfect opportunity to relax and spend time with her mom. Mother and daughter could also share in the experience of the new baby. After all her mom had raised six kids, she certainly could pick up some great child rearing tips! She was excited and looked forward to the wonderful cherished moments they would share together. But those moments she thought she would have with her mom, never came.

When the ambulance brought her mom to the hospital, Irene’s daughter kept thinking - this can’t be real, mom will be released and will hold her new baby granddaughter. Everything will be okay; she will get better. This was not to be the case. The cancer had returned and, nine days later, Irene passed away. Her daughter was devastated.

In the blink of an eye, “someday” had faded away.

The story you’ve just read is my story. I am Irene’s daughter Linda. It is me who stood in that hospital holding my baby girl Brittany in my arms, feeling sheer disbelief that my Mom would never hold my daughter in her arms or buy her favorite cereal like she had for all her other grandchildren. My world had been turned upside down; only 26 days earlier our entire family had celebrated the birth of my wonderful first-born and we were all filled with such joy. Now, we faced the reality that the Mom, the grandmother, the Auntie Irene to so many had passed.

In life, with all its joys and sadness we learn and then we take those lessons into our future. On the day my beloved mom passed, I promised myself that my family would always come first.

Today, all these years later, I am proud to say that I am very purposeful in prioritizing activities in my life so that meeting the needs of my family comes FIRST!

Recently when my daughter Paige moved to San Diego, I was incredibly busy. And on top of that, I told myself she’s a big girl now and can move on her own without mom’s help. But after sitting back and thinking about this move, I quickly realized it would make a positive difference for Paige if I were there to support her in getting settled. The time spent helping her get organized (and of course there was some shopping to be done, which my husband says I’m an expert at!) was worth every ounce of energy!

Sure we’re all busy and we certainly can’t be everywhere at all times. But it’s a matter of identifying the times we can be there, to spend purposeful time with our family and loved ones. The way in which we organize our time and schedule our priorities, will ultimately determine how we live our lives. What decision can you make right now to make your “SOMEDAY” happen today?

-- Linda McLean (author of the #1 International bestselling book Next Level Living – Today’s Guide for Tomorrow’s Abundant Life, My Gratitude Journal and Mind, Millions & Memories)