She woke up for school a little later than she should have. But she smiled, realizing Christmas was only a few weeks away. She thought of the new bike she wanted- but then heard her mother yelling up the stairs to hurry and get ready for school. Her mother said she was going to make her late for work again.

Mary quickly put on her Dora shirt and some polka dot pants and ran downstairs. When she got downstairs her mom gave her a quizzical look, she knew Mary got too excited around the holiday season and would often forget to make her bed. But Mary’s mom would have to punish her later because she needed to drop Mary off at Sandy Hook Elementary School before racing to work.

Mary got in the car, the ride was silent. She knew her mom was angry again for not making her bed and for being indecisive picking out her outfit. But she knew mom would be fine by dinner. She would be in a good mood and forget that she was ever mad at Mary this morning.

So Mary got out of the car and said bye to her mom. Her mom drove away with a short “goodbye”.

That was Mary’s last goodbye.

This isn’t a real story, but it could have been. What if this story was just like one of the mornings of the victims of the Newton school shooting?

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, I watched the horrid news and sat in shock. I kept refreshing my newsfeed to see the information. Immediately after seeing photos of parents picking up their kids from the fire station that they all ran to in horror, I wanted to give my mom and dad a call and say I love them.

But then that got me thinking, why only after that tragedy should we be reminded to always tell the ones we love that we love them and that we are sorry? Why then do we realize that life is precious and don’t take a moment for granted? Why can’t we remember that always?

So right after I turned my tv off, I made a promise to myself. I want to start working on being a better person. I want to say sorry without a pause to people that deserve to hear that from me. I want to say I love you to everyone I truly care about, and say it often. And I want to watch what I say to people to make sure my words are not hurtful. I want to laugh, and laugh often. I want to smile, and keep the smile on my face. And I want to face life with a positive attitude.

So here’s my challenge to you: be nice. Don’t leave anything unsaid. Say I love you. Say sorry. And be a better person. Always. Because life is too short to have regret.