The man next door

A young man learns what's most important in life from a guy next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen that old man, as he had moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often had no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him. Over the phone one day, his mother told him, "Mr Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he say quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh, sorry, Mum. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him, he would ask how you were donig. He'll reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mum told him. "I loved that old house he lived in,"Jack said. "You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," Jack's mum said. "He's the one who taught me carpentry. I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things that he thought were important," Jack reflected. "Mum, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said. As busy as he was, he kept to his word and took the next flight to his hometown. Mr Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mum stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing at the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. "Every picture, every piece of furniture..." Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mum asked. "The box is gone," he answered. "What box?" Mum asked. "There was a small golden box that he kept locked, on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I valued the most,'" Jack said. "It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how I remembered it, except for the box." He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack mused. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mum."

It had been about two weeks since Mr Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. With his heart racing, and tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside, he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most...was...my time." Jack was stunned for the moment. He held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for you time!"

"Life is not measured by the nuber of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

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The reason why I decided to post this story is that as I read it, I was reflecting. Many times I find myself so busy that I barely spend time with my loved ones. I just give myself so much to do only to find myself hardly at home. I definately don't want to regret not spending time with them. I realised that I only start to treasure my family more when I think that I'm going to lose them. When I fill my head with the thought that my parents will die and leave my brothers and I alone to fend for ourselves. I just cannot help crying. Then I start to think: "Am I just going to wait around for that day to realise how much I love my parents, my family?" Definately not.

This year I know that I've a lot of events all lined up. SYF, Midyears, all my other performances, Prelims and O levels. And that's only a part of everything. So the question is that how am I actually going to juggle my time that I actually spend time with my family so that there will never come a day that I regret not spending enough time with them.

And to think that just the other day I was arguing with Brendan so badly.

So what I'm tryint to say is this. There are many things in life that we want to do, many things we want to accomplish. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do all those. But ultimately, remember to spend time with your loved ones before it's too late or before you regret. :)