Time.

There never seems to be quite enough of it. Whether you wish you had a little more time with your kids on the weekend, a few more days to spend on vacation, or even a few more hours before you have to make that big presentation at work; time always seems to be lacking.

I’ve been spending some time reflecting lately and I’ve been realizing just how precious time has become to me after losing my daughter.

I have always been a quality time person. Giving me your valuable time is the surest way to show me you care. But the loss of my daughter took my love language to a whole other level.

When my daughter died at 20 months old from cancer, I didn’t just lose her presence from my life. I also lost her future, the dreams I had for her, and a huge piece of my heart.

But it’s not just her life that was lost from cancer. The disease stole a huge amount of our time during her life as well. We spent much of the 20 months and 3 days we had together in hospitals. Whether she was inpatient, receiving chemo, seeing her doctor or another specialist, waiting for a test, or we were traveling for treatment, we had very little time to just enjoy her.

We always did our best to make the most of each moment, but the little bit of time we had wasn’t even close to enough. I would give so much to have her back for even just one hour.

Time is the most precious commodity we all have, but yet it seems impossible to spend it wisely. We all have such busy lives with families to raise, important work to do, errands to run, and projects to finish. But just remember – tomorrow IS NOT promised. It isn’t promised for you, for your spouse, for your kids, or for anyone else you hold near and dear.

So take a step back from the busyness and take the time out for your loved ones that can seem so hard to give. Read that extra story at night to your children, delay that errand by a little bit so you can cuddle on the couch, take an extra vacation day (or two) to make more memories with your family. That time and those experiences will never end up on your biggest list of regrets.

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Katie Caldwell-Burchett is a wife, mother, childhood cancer advocate, and the CEO/Founder of the Olivia Caldwell Foundation. The Olivia Caldwell Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit that raises money for pediatric cancer research. The foundation has given $325,000 to pediatric cancer research since its inception in 2013. To learn more or to donate please visit www.oliviacaldwellfoundation.org.