Aunt Diane

My daughter recently posted on her Facebook wall that she misses her Aunt Diane (who passed away recently).
I wondered... would she miss me as much if I were to leave this earth today? I realize that Aunt Diane had always been available for my children, that Aunt Diane always went out of her way to make sure that my children were cared for, that no harm ever came to them, to make sure that my
children got to see the airplanes, the fire engines, the dogs, their funny and fun-to-be around cousins, the birthday presents... How fun it was to be with Aunt Diane.
I realize too that watching my children grow, I have always felt like the man on the other side of a thick glass wall, seeing other people enjoy my children...but me. I try to get their attention, desperately knocking on the impervious see-through wall, but could never divert their attention away long enough to let them know that I was always there for them.
I'm trying to rack my brain remembering if my children ever came out for a surprise visit at my work. I can't remember a single time.
Yet in the pictures I have of my children, there are countless pictures of them in airports, on fire trucks and motorcycles, with Aunt Diane's husband in the picture.
Where was I?
My one and only excuse is a thin one. I was too busy making a living.
My children are growing up....fast.
It seems that Aunt Diane had a major contribution to their formative years.
Even though they will never know the countless sleepless nights I spent watching over them as they slept...
Even though they will never know how it pained me to reprimand them when they did wrong...the times that I missed with them because I had to work...that even now, how much I hate being away from them... Nothing hurts me more than to see my children in pain.
They will only be children for a short amount of time...thank God for that...
I can only hope that when I die, they will miss me at least a fraction of how much they miss their Aunt Diane.

I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17