A Funeral and Wedding in one week
Friends,
Imagine if you can, sitting at the bedside of your 22 year old son as his two year struggle against cancer comes to an end. All the chemo and all the radiation couldn’t stop the ravages of cancer. In a heartbeat your son breathes his last breath and enters eternity. Because family has come from far away the funeral is held on a Sunday.
Those of us who have had a child die know what that moment is like. Our entire world collapses. Shock overtakes us and an emptiness that seems bottomless fills our emotions. And even though hundreds of people have come to the funeral, it’s impossible to focus on living.
But now imagine this! Imagine that you know that in just six day the 19 year old sister of this 22 year old son will be getting married. And you are the mom and dad who have to shift emotions from total devastation to outward expressions of joy and happiness. All within a six day timeframe.
That is what friends of ours experienced just last week. For two years they had watched their son fight a battle for which the outcome had been predicted. But he fought anyway, and he fought well.
In the midst of this life and death struggle, love was blossoming in their daughter’s life and a proposal was followed by wedding plans and a wedding date. And let me say right here, the wedding was beautiful, and mom and dad were incredible as they watched their little girl say, “I do,” last Saturday. Surrounded by many of the same friends and family members that had been at her brother’s funeral just days before, this young woman and her husband began a new life filled with hopes and dreams and love.
What an incredible picture of the life and death struggle all of us face sooner or later. Weddings and new births are celebrated – as they should be. Families grow, careers flourish, and plans are made for the future.
But the death of a child stops us in our tracks. There is something very abnormal about such a death. A boy who will never marry. A girl who will never hold her own child.
I guess I’m just rambling today because Alex’s death and Emi’s marriage have simply stopped me in my tracks and reminded me that life is precious, and so are the moments we get to spend with our kids. Don’t waste a single minute. Embrace and love and laugh and cry every chance you get. God bless. Pat & Judy





