My parents and sister went back to India last night after a wonderful ten day visit to Dubai. Each day was a whirlwind of activity and they absolutely loved this place. Their flight left at midnight and I spent the whole of yesterday being painfully aware of every passing minute - willing time to pass slowly or just stand still for a couple of hours, trying to grab as much time as I could with my family.

As somebody who works in a radio station I am acutely aware of the significance of a minute, we tend to be obsessed with time in radio. We try to fit in as much as possible in an hour and I struggle to find a song of the right duration to ensure that the next top of the hour jingle plays out at the right time. Before you know it the moment has passed and you start all over again for the next hour.

As I write this I cannot help but think of Patrick Swayze who is battling pancreatic cancer and who, in his recent interview told Barbara Walters that he is praying for a miracle but knows he does not have much time left. I wonder what that must be like and if I were in that situation I wonder what I would do to make the most of the time I have left.