Time – We never know just how much time we have on this third rock from the sun. Today I was reminded of how precious our time is and how we need to make time to enjoy it.

I was at work, when I heard one the voice of one of the tour guides on the walkie-talkie. She was asking for someone to come out to her group. She left the building about 10 minutes earlier and now she was asking for help. The Tour Manager rushed out and he called back to have us contact 9-1-1. It turns out an elderly woman on the tour looked to be having a stroke. A block into the tour, she trip on a step and fell to her knees, but she continued on. When the manager reached the group, she had an episode of losing control of part of her facial movements, and then she passed out. She was with her family, 12 relatives in the group who had just celebrated her granddaughter’s wedding yesterday. Thank goodness, among the group was an ER Nurse, who noticed the symptoms of a stroke, and did what she could to help her until the paramedics arrived. The elderly woman was taken by ambulance to the hospital to get checked out. A couple of family members left with her, but the rest remained and continued with the tour.

We learned later, the woman had fallen earlier in the day and hit her had on a stairway. She told her family she was fine, but I wonder if she may have received a concussion from the fall. Falling again during the tour didn’t help any, and maybe it triggered the stroke.

We just never know when we will give a final farewell to our family and friends. Just a few hours prior this woman was celebrating a joyous occasion surrounded by loved ones, today she finds herself in the ER where I hope she will be on the road to recovery.

Time, don’t take it for granted.