I'm in tears reading this and his wife's account ( https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/all-remains-dr-jessica-brande... ) - I didn't realize how short life was until I realized I only had 52 weeks with each of my one-year-old sons, and stories like this are a reminder about what's really important. A friend said it well when I was feeling guilty I wasn't putting more time into my work, "No one has ever looked back on thei…
> "No one has ever looked back on their life and said 'I wish I spent less time with my family'". Not everyone has a family worth being with.
If we're talking about parents and siblings and relatives—the family you inherit at birth—then yeah, I can totally see where you're coming from. Same with the other less happy scenarios that I don't think are helpful to go into in a topic like this.
But essentially, family means different things to different people, especially when we're talking about it in the positive sense.
Which is also why I found the OP's article about his son really upsetting, because from that point of view, I've lost people I love and wished that I spent more time with them when I had the chance, or did more of what they wanted.
It makes the loss feel so much deeper when you start playing back history and noticing the times you weren't present... and now that you want to be present it's too late for them. All you can do is take that with you and make sure those loved one you still have can enjoy that from you.