Here’s this week’s installment of Five Minute Friday.

This week’s prompt is LAST. The timer is set … so here goes. {clock starts now}

Maybe it was returning to New York for more than a long weekend. Maybe it was sitting in the corner of the living room, although the furniture is different and the hospital bed is gone. Maybe it’s because, even after 11 years, Karen may not be on my mind continually, but she is always in my heart triggering the memories to pop out of the file cabinet in my head.

So, when the prompt came up, my thoughts immediately regressed to the last time I saw my wife alive, lying there quietly until her last breath.

I remembered our last conversation about 36 hours earlier. I remembered telling her when she was ready, just go; our Lord was waiting. I remembered her smile. I remembered her peaceful countenance. I remembered holding her hand as her breathing  became more labored. I remembered the tear in her eye just before the last gasp. And I remembered the smile that quickly followed.

It my not be theologically or medically accurate, but I knew that last action, coupled with her completely relaxed hands, … STOP

… was her releasing my grip as her eyes opened to the glory of eternity and she saw her Lord and Savior come with open arms to embrace her and bring her to the Father.

This certainly wasn’t the end. It may have been her last actions on this earthly plane, but it was her first act in eternity.

My prayer is when it is time for me to join her, I have the same peace, grace and dignity.

You might remember the task is to write for five minutes on a specific prompt word. The initiative was started by Lisa-Jo Baker  who thought about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. She figured, why not take five minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing. She turned over the reins to Kate Motaung, where our faithful writers write, and share it with others at our Facebook FMF Community page, fiveminutefriday.com. It’s free. It’s easy (okay, not always). It’s addictive (in a good way). You should visit and check it out or — better yet — join in the fun of expressing yourself!

As an extra enticement, I’ve been using testimonials about the group and the exercise from other members as collected in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Flat. This week’s it’s Anna. I encourage you to listen to the words and visit Kate and her wonderful corps of writers … and maybe be inspired to join in!

“Five Minute Friday taught me to go with my gut, not second-guessing myself but trusting in the words God brought forth when I focused in for five minutes. FMF meant freedom in my writing. FMF is a community of cheerleaders, encouraging one another in love. It’s a soft place for the hearts of writers to land each week. I’ve never found another community like FMF — one that consistently welcomes without question or judgment, one that inspires others to keep pressing in to their words, one that so faithfully assembles each week. Five Minute Friday is a one-of-a-kind beautiful presence online.”

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Life is a song — sing it.

Life is a game — play it.

Life is a challenge — meet it.

Life is a dream — realize it.

Life is a sacrifice — offer it.

Life is love — enjoy it.

— Sai Baba