The Last Time - This Could be The Last Time

You won't know that it is the last time, even when it is the last time. The last time could refer to anything. It could be the last time that see you a person. You didn't realise at the time, but you may see someone, talk to them and say goodbye, never for a second believing or even registering the fact that this could be the last time you would ever see that person. 

When was the last time you kissed your child goodnight? When they were a toddler, a five year old, a teenager? Was it last week, last decade? And a friend you're really fond of - when did you last see them or have you already had the last time you'll see them, but you just don't know it yet?

There will be a last time that you visit a certain city, resort, country. There'll be a final plane journey, bus journey, tube journey and car journey. You may, if you think about it at all, know that this is the last time you'll take a particular journey, but the likelihood is that you won't.

When I try to remember the last time I did certain things, sometimes just unimportant things, mostly I have no idea. A student teacher asked me if I could remember the last time that I had used chalk, rather than using a marker pen on a whiteboard. Of course - I had absolutely no idea. Changes take place and you don't register them, but it stands to reason that there was a last time.

I've started thinking about this lately quite a lot, especially in view of my friend's recent death which I wrote about here - A Sudden and Shocking Death. For ages Marlene and I had been saying we should meet. The months went on and we didn't fix anything up. We sent each other birthday cards and Christmas cards. What we didn't do was get round to meeting. We were actually due to meet the day before she died, but then we were prevented. How I wish that we had arranged to meet previously and now, of course, I cannot remember the last time we did meet, nor did I realise that our last meeting would be our last meeting.

I should take this as a warning. For the last few months another friend of mine and I have said that we will meet. It's been over six months now and still we haven't got a date in the diary. What is it that holds us back? Is it the sense that we have loads of time to fit in a meeting? Is it laziness perhaps? Whatever it is, one thing is for sure. Tomorrow I will ring her and offer three dates. Tomorrow will be the day that we arrange to meet - for definite.