What if people came with expiry dates

What if people came with expiry dates?Not birthdays. Not anniversaries. Expiry dates.Imagine meeting someone for the first time and knowing exactly how long they would remain in your life.

Some people would say goodbye before getting attached.Some would spend every remaining second trying to create memories.Some would probably avoid people altogether.

And some of us would still choose the person whose expiry date was tomorrow.Because maybe knowing the ending wouldn’t make the connection less meaningful.Maybe it would make it more meaningful.

Think about it.If you knew your best friend had exactly three months left in your life, would you still waste an evening arguing over something stupid? If you knew a certain person would disappear after one summer, would you spend less time complaining about the heat and more time watching sunsets together?If you knew your favourite teacher would only be around for one year, would you listen a little more carefully?

If you knew your childhood home had an expiry date, would you notice the crack in the wall you’ve walked past a thousand times? Would 

you remember the sound of the front door? The smell of the kitchen? The exact patch of sunlight that falls on the floor every afternoon?

Maybe the painful part of life isn’t that people leave.Maybe it’s that we never know when they’re going to.

We behave as if everything is permanent.We postpone conversations.We keep saying “I’ll call you later.”We assume there will be another birthday, another holiday, another random evening sitting on the terrace talking about absolutely nothing.And then one day, “later” becomes impossible.

I sometimes wonder whether knowing the expiry date would actually make us happier or completely destroy us.Would I enjoy a friendship less if I knew it had only six months left?

Would I love someone differently if I knew we had only two years?Or would I finally stop being afraid of getting attached?

Because attachment isn’t always a mistake.Sometimes we meet people knowing, somewhere deep down, that they aren’t going to stay forever.

A school friend.A neighbour.A stranger we met on a trip.Someone we loved during a particular chapter of our life.

Even the people who stay for decades eventually leave in one way or another. That’s not necessarily tragic. That’s simply the strange contract of being human.

Maybe the real problem is that we keep measuring relationships by how long they lasted.“She was only in my life for a year.”“He was only my friend for a few months.”

“We only knew each other for a little while.”But what if duration isn’t the measurement?What if impact is?A person can stay for ten years and change nothing inside you.

Another can stay for ten days and completely change the way you see yourself.Maybe some people aren’t meant to be permanent residents.

Maybe they’re just passing through with something we’re supposed to learn.A reminder.A lesson.A memory.A warning.A little bit of courage.Or sometimes, just a really good story.So perhaps I don’t actually want people to come with expiry dates.

I think I’d rather keep the uncertainty.Because knowing that something will end can make you desperate to hold onto it.Not knowing makes you appreciate the fact that you have it today.

And maybe that’s the closest thing we have to an expiry date anyway

:Today.Because none of us were promised tomorrow.

So call the person you’ve been meaning to call.Sit with your family a little longer.Take the stupid pictures.Laugh at the same joke for the hundredth time.

So call the person you’ve been meaning to call.Sit with your family a little longer.Take the stupid pictures.Laugh at the same joke for the hundredth time.

So call the person you’ve been meaning to call.Sit with your family a little longer.Take the stupid pictures.Laugh at the same joke for the hundredth time.

Tell someone you appreciate them.Not because they’re leaving.But because they’re here.And maybe “here” is enough of a reason.