I’m having trouble getting to sleep tonight – even though I’m exhausted. It was quite a nice day here on the West Coast – sunny periods and at least there was no rain!
Friends of ours were out enjoying the weather with their family. As their daughter ran down a grassy hill, she tripped. Kids fall all the time – except that something happened this time and they realized they had to call an ambulance. Her heart stopped on the way to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
My heart aches for what her family is going through. This is every parent’s fear, isn’t it? We try to protect our children, yet we also go through our days assuming that they’ll be fine – that they’ll grow up, get married, have children, pursue their passions, find their purpose. We don’t expect that they’ll die before us. That’s just not how it happens most often, so we assume…
This little girl was beautiful and generous and kind. I remember her hanging back on her scooter to be with my kids (who were younger), when she could have sped ahead with the older kids. She always cared about the little ones! She paid attention and made sure that everyone was included. And she cared about animals – I remember her selling smoothies one summer day to raise money for the local animal shelter.
I cannot even begin to fathom what her parents and little brother are going through! What I do know, though, is that I hugged my children a little tighter tonight.
This is a brutal reminder to me to pay attention to what really matters.
If this is the last conversation that I’m going to have with my son, do I want to be yelling at him to quit jumping on the bed?
If I knew my daughter wasn’t going to be here tomorrow, would I fight with her about getting her homework done?
The homework has to get done, the piano has to get practiced, the clothes have to get put in the laundry, the dishes have to get washed, the TV has to get turned off, their teeth have to get brushed.
That’s just life!
But through it all, we have to choose to parent our children with respect and love, instead of impatience and anger.
Because I’ve just had a horrible reminder that they might not be here tomorrow…
