The Last Time - A Love Letter to the Moments That Matter

Peter Comrie Publisher WBN News – Okanagan and WBN News – Winnipeg
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I am closer to 80 than I am to 60 years old, and I know something that I have shared for decades.

I know that everything in life, everything in life, is temporary.

I am in the fall of my life. Not in decline, but in harvest. And from this vantage point, I see what matters most not in the grand gestures or loud accomplishments, but in the soft, ordinary moments that pass by unannounced… until they don’t come again.

You see, we are the only mammals on the planet who live from choice rather than pure instinct. That means, in any moment, I can choose how to see, feel, and be. And with that freedom comes a quiet, powerful truth:

Anything we do could be the last time we ever do it.

The last time I hug a friend.
The last time I laugh with my brother.
The last time I hold my wife’s hand in silence in the middle of the night.
The last time I make love with a heart full of presence and grace.
The last time I say “I love you” and have the chance to be heard.

Not because death is near or drama is imminent, but simply because life moves on. It changes. It evolves. And eventually… it ends.

We don’t often know when something is happening for the last time.

Sometimes it’s in hindsight.
Sometimes it’s never known at all.

And so, what if we lived every moment, every touch, every word, every breath, with the possibility that it might be our last?

Not with fear.

But with fierce awareness.

What If We Made This Our Practice?

• What if every hug was given like it was the last chance to wrap our love around someone?
• What if every kiss held the weight of everything we’ve never said?
• What if every goodbye was infused with the kind of gratitude and gentleness we usually reserve for farewells?
• What if we made eye contact like presence was more valuable than speed?
• What if we listened with the full understanding that this might be the last time someone shares their heart with us?

This Is Not Sadness. This Is Sacred.

To live with the “last time” in mind is not to live in fear of loss.
It is to live in reverence for presence.

Because everything is always the last time… until it isn’t.
And then one day, it is.

The last time we climb the stairs.
The last time we sing a favorite song.
The last time we cook Sunday dinner for family.
The last time we sit quietly beside the person we love.

You don’t have to grieve what hasn’t ended.
But you can bless it.
You can honor it.

And that blessing, the sacredness of this moment, is the greatest gift we can give each other.

My Personal Invitation

I know now what I only suspected in my younger years: that our greatest mistake is imagining we have more time.

More time to say what we feel. More time to mend a rift. More time to love, to listen, to laugh. More time for one last hug.

But the truth is, we don’t know. We never have.

And so, I’ve come to live by a gentle, powerful awareness: this could be the last time.

The last time I say “hello.” The last time I hold a hand. The last time I hear a friend’s voice, or kiss the forehead of someone I love. The last time I witness a sunrise, not through a window, but with a heart wide open.

What if we approached our lives from that awareness?

Would we still rush through dinner to check our phones? Would we cut conversations short to keep to a schedule? Would we hold back “I love you” for a better moment?

Or would we choose differently? Would we breathe more deeply, hug more tightly, speak more truthfully, and love more freely?

Because here’s the miracle: we’re the only mammal on Earth gifted with conscious choice. We are not bound by instinct alone. We get to choose our thoughts. Our responses. Our next words. Our energy. Our presence.

And with that gift comes responsibility, the responsibility to show up.

To be awake. To be kind. To be whole.

And so I say this, to myself and to anyone who might need to hear it: Let us not wait for our final moments to realize how sacred the ordinary ones were.

Let us live now, while we still can.

Let every kiss, every conversation, every sunrise, and every goodbye carry within it the reverence of maybe this is the last time.

Not as something to fear. But as something to cherish.

This is not a mourning of what will end. It is a celebration of what is still here.

A love letter to the moments that matter.

And to the lives we still have time to touch.

So here’s what I offer you, not as advice, but as a reflection from a man who is deeply awake to what matters:

Let every moment be worthy of a last time.
Let every word you speak be one you would be proud to leave behind.
Let every act of kindness be a seed you plant that might outlive you.
And let every kiss, every hug, every quiet morning together be lived as though it is a miracle.

Because it is.

My very best to you.

~peter~

Tags: TheLastTime, Presence, LifeIsNow #PeterComrie #FullSpectrumLeadership