Editor's note: I wrote this particular post 2 years ago, after coming home from another funeral of a student. I decided to not immediately post it for several reasons. It was just too close. Now, with some time & distance behind me, I feel more comfortable sharing...
This week has driven home for me, and people I work with, a renewed sense of mortality which cannot be overstated.
I am not going to go into details of this particular lesson which was driven home, other than to say I have lost 4 students & former students in tragic circumstances this year. The death of a child is a tough lesson to accept. How can a parent possibly be expected to cope with such a lesson? To see innocence robbed from a very young soul, whether it be from a life cut short, or another tragic condition requires answers which may not seem possible in this life form to retrieve.
As a Christian, I have faith that young souls which leave before their time will 'go home' to our Heavenly Father. I have been taught this and find it comforting to believe. Still, a parent with such a loss is expected to cope with many hopes and dreams ultimately left in the dust. How do they regain that composure?
I do not have answers for these questions today. I am simply acknowledging a prominent sensation which has currently overtaken and shaken my senses. Maybe it is because I am a parent and cannot imagine how I would react.
The immediate lesson I take from this is to cherish every moment you have with those you love, because you never know what tomorrow brings.
JavaMusiK - Piano-Based Instrumentals from Western Slope, CO