It’s been one of those weeks. Here it is only Wednesday, and it feels like it should be Thursday.

Rushing here and there, it seems like there’s never enough time in the day. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how lunch really killed my workday. Since then, I’d worked dilligently to eliminate my time management issue by cutting my lunch hour by half. Since then, it’d worked pretty well in getting my things handled.

That all went to pot Tuesday, and here I sit at home with my children writing a column, cooking supper, working on homework and a science project and constantly reminding one of them to turn the television down.

What I wouldn’t give for one quiet minute, but on the flip side, I know there is at least two sets of parents who would give anything in the world to spend one more minute with their child – even if it were yelling at them to quit fighting with their sibling.

This weekend’s tragic accident near Baker, Fla., that took the lives of Red Level students Evan Carpenter and Levi Neal should serve as a reminder that we should never take one minute for granted.

Evan was a distant cousin on my mother’s side. I vaguely remember meeting him once or twice as a small child; however, I know his grandmother very well. I spoke to her the day he died, and it broke my heart to hear the grief in her voice.

I can only imagine the heartbreak that his mother and father feel.

And what about the Neal family?

It’s hard to comprehend what they must be going through – to watch their child leave, smiling and happy, only to get that heartbreaking phone call later.

It makes me close my eyes in grief for them and say a silent prayer for all involved.

When I was growing up, we all did crazy things like having bottle rocket wars, riding in the back of a truck. It makes my chest grow tight knowing that a simple carefree afternoon of fun on the river banks could turn tragic.

We may never know all the circumstances that led up to Sunday’s wreck; however, we don’t know that the small town of Red Level will have a hard time recovering from this tragedy.

Plans are in the works to allow the community to pay their respects to the two teens, who were really only boys. They had not yet had the opportunity to truly live before they were taken.

If we take anything away from this tragic, tragic incident, it should be this – life is fleeting. Make the most of it. Tell those most important in your life just how much you love them. Do it often.

Rest assured that I’ll be telling my “stop, quit and don’ts” just how much I love them when I tuck them into bed tonight, while saying a silent prayer to God asking Him to keep them safe, healthy and happy.