In my early 20's, I had recently given birth to a daughter born with heart problems. I was busy cleaning up the apartment and finishing up the dishes when my husband came in and said it was time to go to the hospital to see her. I said I just needed to get things tidied up and would be ready in about 20 minutes. He told me he wanted to go now. I kept working.

When I was done, I went out to leave with him, and discovered he had already left for the 30-minute drive. I made the drive alone, in tears. It was then I realized he didn't care if the dishes were clean and put away. He wanted to spend the time with our daughter. Our daughter lived only 4 1/2 months.

I learned a very important lesson that day: people are more important than things. The time we spend with our children and grandchildren is what they remember most.  Children don't want perfection; they just want our time.

Thank you for reminding us of that and continue to encourage families to make their children and their husbands a priority in their lives.

Gayle