Life is too short.

I’ve slowly been getting caught up after being gone all last week.  The to do lists are needing done, organizing needs to happen, kids need to be played with, and there’s a routine to try and get back into. 

Recently a tragedy happened to a family from back home that I was good friends with.  Every year they train as a family to do a big family race/relay together.  This year it was in Vegas, and in the middle of the race their oldest son was hit by a drunk driver and killed instantly.  I heard the news unexpectedly and have to admit that I was pretty emotional over it. Mainly because he was a young father with a little family, and now in an instance his kids were left fatherless and his wife left a widow. I can’t even imagine the grief they all must feel, as well as his parents and siblings. In a split second their life was completely changed. It is just so sad really.  For some reason I find it easier to let someone go like my grandfather who is older and has lived a happy and full life. Someone so young, with so much to live for is so much harder for me.

 

We have also been keeping tabs on our good friend Ryan who is battling cancer. And for an instant there he had an allergic reaction, and thought he was going to die right then.  They were able to help him out of it and days later as he wrote this post,

“Please all of you that are married hug and kiss your spouse today. Also, let your parents know how much you love them. This life is temporary. Make all you can of it.”That choked both Beau and I up.  We have it so good, and life really is temporary.  We often forget that tomorrow could change drastically.  Why do we live like it’s not.  Why do we not think before we speak, why don’t we tell people we love them more and why don’t we show it more. 

I have to say that that it would kill me to ever loose Beau.  I would be devastated, but I also am so incredibly grateful for the gospel. For the knowledge it gives me about the purpose of this life and what happens beyond this grave. I’m grateful for a Savior who has made it possible for us to be resurrected, who has made it possible for families to be together again.  I know that God has made it possible for families to be sealed and continue that incredible relationship we have here even after we die. That this life is not all that there is. That death is not the end.  That gives me hope for my friend’s family. Despite their sudden loss, and the grief they feel, I know that they were sealed as a family. I know that they will see their dad again. I know they have the gospel and a loving Savior to carry them through the lonely days ahead. And although life is only temporary there is more to life than here.