If Only I Had Known
Thomas
Carlyle*___
Thomas Carlyle lived from 1795 until 1881. He was a
Scot essayist and historian. During his lifetime he
became one of the world's greatest writers. But he was
a human and humans make mistakes.On October 17, 1826,
Carlyle married his secretary Jane Welsh. She was an
intelligent, attractive and somewhat temperamental
daughter of a well-to-do doctor. They had their
quarrels and misunderstandings, but still loved each
other dearly..........
After their marriage, Jane continued to serve as his
secretary. But, after several years of marriage, Jane
became ill. Being a hard worker, Carlyle became so
absorbed in his writings that he let Jane continue
working for several weeks after she became ill. She had cancer, and though it was one of the slow growing kind, she finally became confined to her bed. Although
Carlyle loved her dearly, he very seldom found time to
stay with her long. He was busy with his
work..........
When Jane died they carried her to the cemetery for the service. The day was a miserable day. It was raining
hard and the mud was deep. Following the funeral
Carlyle went back to his home. He was taking it pretty
hard. He went up the stairs to Jane's room and sat down in the chair next to her bed. He sat there thinking
about how little time he had spent with her and wishing so much he had a chance to do it
differently..........
Noticing her diary on a table beside
the bed, he picked it up and began to read it. Suddenly he seemed shocked. He saw it. There, on one page, she
had written a single line. "Yesterday he spent an hour
with me and it was like heaven; I love him so."
Something dawned on him that he had not noticed before. He had been too busy to notice that he meant so much to her. He thought of all the times he had gone about his
work without thinking about and noticing her. Then
Carlyle turned the page in the diary. There he noticed
she had written some words that broke his heart. "I
have listened all day to hear his steps in the hall,
but now it is late and I guess he won't come
today."..........
Carlyle read a little more in the book. Then he threw
it down and ran out of the house. Some of his friends
found him at the grave, his face buried in the mud. His eyes were red from weeping. Tears continued to roll
down his cheeks. He kept repeating over and over again, "If I had only known, if I had only known." But it was
too late for Carlyle. She was dead.
After Jane's death, Carlyle made little attempt to
write again. The historians say he lived another 15
years, "weary, bored and a partial
recluse."...
Author
Unknown*.........................
I share this story within the hopes
that we might not make the same mistakes as Thomas
Carlyle. While our loved ones must have the money we
make to live, it is the love that we have to give; that we each really want and need.
Give it now...before it is too late...Choose to
live each day as if it were your last day on earth.
And..."LOVE"...as if it were your first day in
heaven. Love is stronger than death. Love is
limitless...Let's touch each other, let's hold each
other, let's think of each other, let's care about each other today; now. "Why don't we do these things now?" "What are we waiting for?" No Regrets...*If Only I Had Known*...*If Only I Had Known*... For to miss love; is to miss life.The song that is playing...
Open
Arms*....................
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