Originally Published in the February 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source By Chris Callen
These days are so busy in our life and times anymore with events happening all over the county, but trust me, at the end of each year I realize more and more how lucky we are here at Cycle Source. There are so many people wanting us to join in their part of the country’s particular insanity that it makes the whole thing that much more worth while. But, when you spend ten days on the road traveling, and then ten days in the office working before it starts all over again, it leaves very little time for any kind of a personal life. I’ve seen my friends’ start families, I’ve watched their kids grow up, and some of them have even started to retire in the time I’ve been at the desk of this magazine. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t trade any of it. It’s been an absolute whirlwind and I seriously couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my life. However, there have been quite a few things that I have missed along the way that either fell through the cracks or happened at the wrong time that I do wish I could go back and have a redo on. You know, those little things that add up in the end. A person gets married, someone moves away … all those things are hard to bear even though you are out having the time of your life, but the worst is when you are a thousand miles away from home and you get really bad news. When it comes, as it did for me this month, it hits you like a ton of bricks. All of a sudden nothing that you are doing is as important as making it home to take care of what really matters. In my case, one of my great brothers, a man that taught me more in a short 15 years than possibly any other human being could have, was living out his final days. I immediately began to race home to spend time with him. This type of thing changes your whole perspective. All at once, the time that seems like you have so much of for making up missed opportunities runs out and you are left with the simple and honest assessment that you have just been absent. Yeah, there are a million excuses for how we all get busy and how life happens as we make plans, but the truth is, somewhere along the line I stopped paying attention to some of the things that were truly important. For a little while, as good as everything else had been, I had lost touch with people and places that helped make me who I am. This man was exactly one of those people. Luckily, I did get to spend time with him; a very few short hours that ended up being his last. From this, I walked away with an even deeper appreciation for how short life is — how unpredictable and uncertain. I will forever miss this person in my life, but more than that I will use the circumstances that brought me to write this article to try my damndest not to let it happen again. So if you read this today and it makes you think of that brother or sister you haven’t talked to for a while,don’t wait another day. Pick up the phone and just check in. If they are busy and don’t have the time, just make sure they know you were thinking about them today.
