Have you ever met someone in a restaurant, or sat by them in an airplane and somehow connected? You know right away that you really like them and given the chance, you’d be very good friends. You talk, and joke or just smile and hand them a straw… you might even say, “see you later”. But, you won’t see them again. Your paths have crossed for a brief time, and you could have been friends. But you won’t.

Could Have. You’ll never know. Perhaps years later she would have come to your house in the middle of the night to baby-sit while you went to the emergency room. You could have comforted her when her mom died… You would have eaten pizza and talked on the phone and watched each other’s children grow up.

Could Have. But you got off the plane in Dallas and said, “have a nice day” … you dumped your tray at Burger King and smiled and walked away… what else could you do?

You open your car door and sit down. Buckle your seat belt and look into the restaurant window… you could run back in and say, “Hey, want to come over for pizza? Want to come to my son’s birthday party? How’s your mom doing?” But you don’t. That would be odd.
But you COULD HAVE, and life would be different, it would be better.