By Pattie Mihalik

I think I’m usually a reflective person, one that takes the time to take an analytical look at my life.

That’s especially true at the end of each year as I think about the changes I’ve made in my life.

The older I get, the more I realize there comes a time when it’s healthy to access where I am and where I want to be.

To put it succinctly, there comes a time when you are more aware of simple changes.

A while ago, I made a vow to stop buying more “stuff.” There comes a time when you realize you don’t even need the stuff you already have.

When I decided to give away things that no longer fit my lifestyle, I found new homes for the few good antique pieces I’ve been hording and for sterling silver serving pieces and good crystal I once loved.

There are some treasures I could never part with, such as the wooden napkin holder with lopsided “jewels” pasted on it. I remember the grin on my granddaughter’s face when she said, “Here, Nona, I made this for you.”

There comes a time when “precious treasures” get redefined from silver and crystal to popsicle-stick creations made by little hands and given with loving hearts.

There comes a time when you know what your father meant years ago when he told you he didn’t need another shirt. There comes a time when you understand what he meant when he said as long as you gave him your love, it’s the only gift he ever needed.

There comes a time when you realize you can have too much of a lot of material things. But you can never have too much love.

There comes a time when you wish you could talk with your father and mother one more time.

There comes a times when you ask yourself what you would tell your departed loved ones if you could be with them one more time.

I’ve thought about that a lot and I’ve decided it all boils down to this: I would tell them I love them and always will love them with every fiber of my being.

I told them that many times, of course, when they were still here with me. But there comes a time when you know you can never say those words enough to those you love.

There comes a time when you wish you wouldn’t have taken so many simple things for granted — like having your husband come home at the end of a work day — or having the telephone ring and it’s your mother wanting to know how your day was.

There comes a time when you want to hear from your own busy children and you know they will feel this same longing with their own children some day. There comes a time when you realize a routine telephone conversation with your mother is a gift that won’t always be yours.

There comes a time when family get-togethers are looked forward to more than trips to exotic locations.

There comes a time when we realize what’s important and what’s not. There comes a time when award plaques and certificates of achievement no longer hold much meaning. But the box of old family photos that captures your past becomes more priceless every year.

There comes a time when you know for certain why it is said that the present is a gift, that the moment at hand is to be fully lived.

There comes a time when you know living fully means being attuned to all facets of life. There comes a time when every simple pleasure becomes something to savor and celebrate.

When was the last time you celebrated eating an ice cream cone or the enjoyment of being with friends who made you laugh?

OK, here’s another “last time” question. When was the last time you celebrated talking with your husband and realizing how rewarding it is to have someone who cares about you?

The older I get, the more I realize how blessed I am when I am doing seemingly everyday things with my spouse. When we are walking into Walmart, I sometimes hold his hand and swing it as if we were kids. That’s because I know we are kids — older kids who know enough to cherish every little routine.

I know from painful past experience how we can yearn for those little routine times when it is no longer possible to share them with a spouse.

There comes a time when you know with all certainty never to take being with that spouse for granted.

Did you ever watch a little kid unwrap a present with his joyful face reflecting his happiness at having been given a present?

That’s the way I feel each morning when I am being given the gift of another day.

There comes a time when you remind yourself throughout the day how fortunate you are to have what the uninitiated call “a routine day.”

There comes a time when you know there is no such thing as a routine day.

There comes a time when you wish you didn’t know firsthand the meaning of the phrase, “too soon old; too late smart.”

There comes a time when you wish you would’ve had more wisdom much earlier in life.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.