These past months have been a time of remembrance. I searched through old photo albums to find just the right pictures to tell the story of our past 25 years. My husband and I just celebrated 25 years of marriage this past week. Taking the trip back down memory lane was enjoyable. It amazed me how quickly these 25 years have flown by.
In the midst of our celebrating though, some friends of ours are mourning. Mourning the loss of a husband, father, grandfather.
Right before we left we heard the unexpected news of the passing of one man. He attended our church and all summer he spent in the hospital fighting for his life. A few weeks ago he was able to come home and was well on his way to recovery. He was driving on his motorcycle when someone ran a stop sign. We were in shock.
How could this happen? He wasn't much older than us. His wife and him have been together just about as long. We'd only just begun to know him.
We began our cruise with them on our mind. We were able to relax and have a good time. We celebrated as a family our 25 years of marriage. We were disconnected from the world and Facebook. It was nice to talk face to face rather than send a text. Even though when someone was lost on the ship it would have been a lot less steps to send a text asking where they were rather than searching for him/her. The search though let me walk more steps and my Fitbit was proud of me.
The day we arrived home, we were excited to reconnect. We saw how a friend was back in the hospital. We prayed, we'd hoped it would be like his other stays in the hospital. I contacted his wife but she didn't sound very hopeful. Still I prayed for healing, God could work a miracle, right?
We were busy with unpacking and preparing for our anniversary celebration with friends and family. Our friend was never far from my mind. I prayed and still hoped. My husband stopped by and visited, but he wasn't very encouraged. The next morning our friend went home to be with Jesus.
He left behind a wife and two young sons. Our hearts broke once again. This couple would have celebrated 25 years this spring. Instead of looking ahead to the future, both of these woman are dealing with the loss of someone they've loved for a long time.
I know God has good plans for each of them. I know that death is a part of living. It just can be so hard to go through it. Hopefully one day they will feel like dancing again. One day the laughter will return. Life can be tough sometimes, the road you were on takes a new turn and a new journey has begun. Reach out to God, He can see you through.
