How quickly life can change.
On November 14th, a sweet man at our church found out he had cancer of the lungs, bones, intestines, colon, esophagus....3 weeks later he was gone. Stewart Stimson was a precious, sweet man. Quiet & unassuming, meeting needs when he heard of them in an anonymous & quiet way. I only knew him briefly, but I was honored to have known him.
Remember the Bar Mitzvah we attended last summer? Zack's good friend & neighbor, Cody Balato, collapsed last Sunday night. He seemed perfectly healthy when he went to bed. He woke up at 1am having trouble breathing & called out his dad's name. His dad went to him, helped him take a dose of his brother's asthma inhaler thinking that would help & then Cody collapsed. They called an ambulance. Cody never regained consciousness. They found out mid-week that he had leukemia & that there was a mass in his chest. Cody died today. He was only 14 years old.
In the blink of an eye, our worlds can be changed.
Tonight's message at church was about your values & priorities if you found out you only had 30 days to live. How timely.
Live every day as if it's your last. Live the legacy you want to leave behind. Don't waste a minute with the ones you love. Spend time with your family. Hug generously, kiss your spouse with great passion. It all happens too quickly to miss a single minute!
I am reminded of this song by Nichole Nordeman, one of my favorite singers of all time.
10 years ago
4 comments:
That is so true.. I feel bad for Cody's family...but then I am thankful he didn't suffer for years with the leukemia like others we have known.. if that was the way I would go I would want to go quickly! (even though I don't know him)
It is a tragedy, but I agree with Sandy. I am glad he didn't suffer.
I learned years ago at my great-aunt's death to say all the things you need to say, do what you need to do. I kept putting off visiting her, because I didn't want to see her as ill as she was. I finally got up the courage to visit, and she died while I was there. My cousin, a catholic priest, told he that she was waiting for me. Since then, I try to 'take care of business,' as it were.
A good book is one by Elizabeth Kuhbler Ross (sp), On Death and Dying.
I completely agree girls. Fast is most certainly the way I want to go. I mourn for Cody's family as it happened SO fast that they barely had time to wrap their brains around their son's illness before it was all over. I mourn for Stew's family because he also had such a short time from diagnosis to death. We're here today, gone tomorrow. Live each moment to the fullest, girls!
I am a flower quickly fading -- here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean. Still You hear me when I'm calling; Lord, You lift me up when I'm falling and You've told me who I am...I am Yours.
Words to a song, yes. But how true they are.
Post a Comment