I've never experienced a loss of someone close to me yet...
But my cherish and being grateful for every moment with loved ones changed when I had a conversation with my friend years go.
When I lived at home, my mother would always come home and call out my name to see if I was ok. To see if I was breathing, alive, blinking... The whole nine. Lol. Just a worrisome mom.
It used to annoy me to no end, tho.
And um, I was on the phone with my friend (who had loss his mother years ago before I met him)... and when she yelled out my name, I said "Ugh, I can't take ha. I can't wait to move." And his response to me was... "I'd give ANYTHING for my mother to come home and call out my name..."
That statement was so powerful. It never left me. It hit me hard. There I was complaining about my mother always checking on me. And my friend didn't have a mother to check on him. That was my wake up call to appreciate those around me while they are here. Been that way ever since.