Wednesday, March 12, 2008

watching the grass grow

where to start... we had a friend die this week - suddenly. doesn't matter why or what happened. it matters that it happened. here was a man, the dad of a friend of Max's, a father to three young kids and husband to a wonderful woman. he was taken suddenly from this life. in talking to many other mom's over the past few days i keep coming back to this series of posts on acor about NB statistics and all the parents worrying about the 40% survival with treatment A vs. 60% survival on treatment B... and an NB parent finally stopped all the comparisons by pointing out that life is 100%. you're alive or your not. it doesn't matter if you have cancer or you're perfectly healthy. living for today and being happy with what you have right now is essential. i'm not saying to live as if you're going to die tomorrow. but do live in such a way that you are happy. don't let the goofball driving too slow in front of you make you uptight (are you in that big a hurry anyway?). instead of getting mad at the guy who just flipped you off, feel sorry for him and wonder what you could do to make them smile. the kids have been watching VeggieTales again and this weeks lesson was love thy enemy. i'm not a bible reader (not that there's anything wrong with you if you are!) but i got the 5 year olds lesson of what it means to be nice to people and how it can effect you to be mean back. revenge and anger only linger within you making each moment less pleasant. smile. be peaceful. you can infect people easily with happiness. pass it along. my sadness for this family is deep. life can end at anytime for any of us. make the most of it. andy & i promised that we would make the most of our time with our families when max was diagnosed three years ago and this is a reminder to us all. life is sweet. there is so much around to see and enjoy... like watching the grass grow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We, indeed, lost a truly wonderful man this week. Life is precious and YOU have been teaching so many just that! LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX!
xoxolisa

Randee said...

Thank you for the reminder of how precious every breath, every smile, every moment with our family and friends is and not to waste these precious moments angry at that person who cut you off or whatever--they may have forgotten to watch the grass grow--or maybe it's my sister taking Max to clinic with a sick two year old in the back seat. You know I am a Bible reader and it never ceases to amaze me how soon we forget the message--"Love one another as I love you."!! I am so very sorry for the loss of your friend and will keep his family in prayer.

Love,
Randee

San Diego Mom said...

Hear, hear. When my best friend died at age 24 from asthma attack, I thought that nothing could be worse then parents burying their child. Then three months after that, my cousin died leaving his two year old daughter and 5 month pregnant wife. Feeling the pain both for kids who would miss their parent and the parents who lost their child, I felt strongly that I owe it to them to do my best in everything I do and that I owe to my parents (and to my kids now) to take good care of myself (that means not driving too fast or switching lanes to get to a place 5 minutes earlier, or rest when I have cold.) I can't help feeling so useless in face of such tragedy and just have to tell myself, okay, you do your part, that is the best you can do for them.