I Didn’t Know It Would Be the Last Time

April 09, 2026

I came across this chair sitting out in the yard, turned back toward the house like it was remembering something.

It made me stop.

There was nothing special about it at first glance—just an old chair, a quiet afternoon, and a long shadow stretching out across the grass. But something about the way it was facing… it felt like it was looking back instead of forward.

And that’s when the song came to me - "The Dance". 

Not the whole song—just a feeling I’ve known for a long time.

How many moments in life have we lived without realizing they were the last?

The last conversation.
The last visit.
The last time we sat and talked without any thought that one day we wouldn’t be able to.

If we had known… would we have held on a little longer?
Would we have paid closer attention?

Or maybe life doesn’t work that way for a reason.

Maybe the beauty is in not knowing.

Because even though some endings bring pain…
they also mean there was something worth holding onto in the first place.

Looking at that chair, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude.

For the moments I didn’t see coming.
For the memories that still linger.
For the dances I didn’t know would end.

And I realized something sitting there in that quiet yard…

Even knowing how it all turns out,
I wouldn’t trade those moments away.

Not for anything.

Because to miss the pain…
would mean I’d have to miss the dance.

 

A Visit on Mom’s Porch

 

A Visit on Mom’s Porch

March 05, 2026

Last night I had one of those dreams that stays with you.

I was standing on Mom’s porch — the same porch I played on when I was a little boy and the same one I sit on now when I go home to visit her. In the dream it looked exactly the way it does in real life. Even the TV cables were there. Every little detail was just right.

Dad and Grandpa were there, sitting together and working on fishing reels, just talking the way men do when their hands are busy. They looked younger, relaxed, like time had decided to give them a little break.

I didn’t arrive with any big moment or announcement. I just walked up onto the porch and saw them there. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. I passed by them the way I probably did a hundred times growing up.

For a little while we were all simply there together.

Nothing dramatic happened. Nobody said anything that shook the world. It was quiet, peaceful… almost ordinary. And maybe that’s what made it so special.

When I woke up, I didn’t feel sadness or longing. I felt peaceful and happy, like I had been given a small visit with people who helped shape my life.

Dreams can be strange things, but sometimes they feel like little windows opening for just a moment.

Last night felt like I stepped through one and stood again on Mom’s porch.