{"id":251,"date":"2024-10-30T22:05:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T22:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/?p=251"},"modified":"2025-03-25T22:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T22:01:13","slug":"time-to-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/2024\/10\/30\/time-to-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>!function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src=\"https:\/\/rumble.com\/embedJS\/u1oy3u8\"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+\"\/?url=\"+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+\"&args=\"+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, \"script\", \"Rumble\");<\/script><\/p>\n<div id=\"rumble_v6ozm44\"><\/div>\n<p><script>\nRumble(\"play\", {\"video\":\"v6ozm44\",\"div\":\"rumble_v6ozm44\"});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A young man learns what&#8217;s most important in life from the guy next door.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girl&#8217;s, career and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing can stop him.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Over the phone, his mother told him, \u201cMr Belzer died last night. The funeral&#8217;s Wednesday.\u201d Memories flashed through his mind like an old news reel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days,<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u201cJack did you hear me?\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u201cOh, sorry mom. Yes, I heard you. It&#8217;s been so long since I thought of him. I&#8217;m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago.\u201d Jack said.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cWell, he didn&#8217;t forget you. Every time I saw him, he\u2019d ask how you were doing. He\u2019d reminisce about the many days you spent over \u2018his side of the fence\u2019 as he put it,\u201d Mom told him.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u201cI loved that old house he lived in,\u201d Jack said. \u201cYou know, Jack, after your father died, Mr Belzer stepped in to make sure you had a man&#8217;s influence in your life,\u201d she said.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u201cHe&#8217;s the one who taught me carpentry. I wouldn&#8217;t be in this business if it weren&#8217;t for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important. Mom, I&#8217;ll be there for the funeral,\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mister Belzer&#8217;s funeral was small and uneventful\u2019 He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0The night before he had to return home, Jack and his mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture. Then Jack stopped suddenly.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong Jack?\u201d his mom asked. \u201cThe box is gone,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat box?\u201d mom asked. \u201cThere was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk I must have asked him 1000 times what was inside. All he&#8217;d ever tell me was \u2018the thing I value most.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Well, it was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belzer family had taken it. \u201cNow I&#8217;ll never know what was so valuable to him,\u201d Jack said. &#8220;I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belzer died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. \u201cSignature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,\u201d the note read.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Early the next day, Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed 100 years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Mr. Harold Belzer, it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack&#8217;s hands shook as he read the note inside.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cUpon my death, please forward this box in its contents to Jack Bennett. It\u2019s the thing I valued most in my life.\u201d A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Inside he found these words engraved: \u201cJack, thanks for your time! Harold Belzer.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u201cThe thing he valued most&#8230; was &#8230;my time.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. \u201cWhy?\u201d his assistant asked. \u201cI need some time to spend with my son,\u201d he said. \u201cOh, by the way, Janet&#8230; thanks for your time!\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Have a good day. And thank you for your time.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0 By J Douglas<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A young man learns what&#8217;s most important in life from the guy next door.\u00a0 \u00a0It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girl&#8217;s, career and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-relationships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creatingloverelationships.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}