In the last week I've attended 2 funerals. One was for my good friend and neighbor's father who died very unexpectedly in a horse accident. He was only 58 years old. The other was for the infant daughter of a friend who was born on Thursday and only lived for 5 1/2 hours. When tradegy strikes it help you to realize what is really important in life, when it strikes twice it's another reminder that each day is a gift and we need to use our time wisely.
President Monson summed it up like this,
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."
My friend, Brianne, found out at 16 weeks that her baby girl had a condition that would not allow her to live beyond birth. They decided to find joy in their journey and named their baby girl Joy. If you would like to read their story you can check her blog http://ourjourneywithjoy.blogspot.com but you may have to have a box of kleenex handy.
My close friend Carrie is the kind of friend I can call day or night and is the only friend I feel comfortable enough with to just walk into her house unannounced. We're that close. I had seen her dad just 5 days before the accident and he was absolutely fine so when she called me and told me he had died I was in absolute shock. At that point they weren't really sure what had happened. He was out herding cattle with some other cowboys and they split up for a bit. When Neil wasn't at the meeting point they went looking for him and found him on the ground. The only one that saw what really happened was his faithful dog, Mia, but they think he was probably bucked off the horse and was kicked in the chest. He was a seasoned horseman, but this horse was feisty and had a reputation. It really was just a freak accident, but to his grieving wife and 5 children it was absolutely shocking and unbelievable. It will be awhile before they adjust to their new normal and her Mom's life will be completely different from now on.
This is a reminder to everyone to make sure they have their life insurance up to date!! Don't take a chance on the "I'm never going to die" mentality. Sometimes it doesn't work out and your family is left struggling.
On a side note Jameson went with me to both funerals and I must say he is NOT a good funeral companion. :-)
2 comments:
We've had an interesting year of deaths here. . . so I've been thinking about this topic you wrote about quite a bit. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the President Monson quote. My heart goes out to your two friends!
Thank you Hilary for your kind words about our Joy and our experience with her. I cannot ever tell you how much your family's kindness has meant to us. If it is alright, I would like to have a link from her blog to this post so I can easily find it on a day that I need to remember what good friends I have. :) Thank you, Breanne
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