Don’t Wait Until You’re 45

Life lessons from my aunt that came too late …

Dear readers,

Today, I sit down to share with you the words of wisdom from my beloved Aunt Cristina. She passed away last year, a victim of breast cancer, but left us a treasure trove of experiences and advice that I can’t keep to myself. Aunt Cristina was one of those women who lit up any room with her smile, but also didn’t mince words when it came to telling some hard truths.

In her final weeks, she decided to write a kind of letter to her younger self. When I first read it after her passing, my heart broke realizing how many valuable lessons she wished she had learned earlier.

Today, in honor of her memory, I share these reflections with you, hoping they might touch someone’s life the way they touched mine.

1. Time flies, girls!

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned,” Aunt Cristina wrote, “it’s that time is the most precious asset we have, and unfortunately, we only realize it when it’s too late.”

She talked about how, at 18, summers seemed endless and the future a distant eternity. But in the blink of an eye, there she was, approaching 50, wondering where all that youth had gone.

“Don’t waste your days thinking you have all the time in the world,” she…