We have had some terrible tragedies in our community in the last few weeks - heartbreaking stories. The kind of things you hear and wonder, why do these things have to happen and what is wrong with the world?
A couple weeks ago, we heard a horrible story about someone finding the bodies of two little kids and their father at one of our local favorite parks - Jackson Bottom Wetlands. It was concluded soon after that it was a murder/suicide. It was sickening to hear about and then soon after we started figuring out connections to this family. Herb* found out that the dad was someone he had worked with at his previous fab. He was shocked and could not believe that he would be capable of something like this. Then we found out one of the kids went to Sarah's old elementary school. I also found out from Sarah that one of the boys in her class was his best friend. While talking to her teacher about it, I heard that he was going to have a sleepover for the little boys' birthday that night. He showed up with his pillow, a present, etc. )o: Ugh - when you hear all these things from people who know the victims it makes it seem even more real and makes it even harder to believe.
Another tragedy affected the family of one of my young women. Two teenage boys were driving really fast on a nearby highway at night, lost control, and hit a tree. The picture of their car was horrifying. Neither of the boys survived. One of the boys was the 18 year old cousin of the girl in my YW. He was getting ready to serve a mission this fall and had saved enough money to pay for it himself. He sounded like a wonderful young man. Poor Heidi, and her family, of course, were devastated. My heart just aches for them, especially his mother.
It might seem weird that I am blogging about this, but it has been on my mind and has made me (as things like this often do) more aware lately how fragile life is. I am grateful for a knowledge of life after death and that we can continue our family and friend relationships after we die. This definitely brings peace. Still, it is so hard to hear about children and teens losing their lives. It's hard to think about how much their families will miss them until they can be reunited someday. It makes me want to hold on to my little sweeties and never let go.
7 comments:
Jen, thanks for sharing your thoughts. As you said, life is quite fragile. After I heard the first story, and then saw the Pippen's on the news, it made it feel much closer to home, too. So sad. And then I saw on facebook that a friend was writing about the loss of the two boys, one of which attended their ward, and again that made it feel much closer to home. There is tragedy all around us it seems, and it does indeed make me want to hold my boys tight and never let go! But these experiences are all somehow part of what we are to endure and learn from ... but it's not at all easy.
{{hugs}}
I feel the same way. When the little boy died that is Ashley's friend, believe me, I held my girls a little tighter that night.
One thing that our Bishop did after Grant dies was he came into Young Mens and Young Womens and spoke about the importnace of repentance. You never know when you will meet your Heavenly Father again. What a great teaching tool for the youth.
So sad. I've been pondering a lot of things on this subject too as our stake president's son died. Christine sang at his funeral. SHE IS AMAZING!!!! AMAZING!!!! I was bursting with pride! I went to her ward a couple weeks ago where she sang the same song. That was when the stake president heard her too and obviously was impressed and touched enough he asked her to sing at his son's funeral.
Sorry...but I am going to be giving you another reason to be sad...read my blog and you'll find out :(
So sorry about the sad news in your area. We miss you guys!
love, Kelli
*Off Topic*
Happy Birthday!! I hope you had a great birthday!
Julie has been telling me all the crazy stuff that has been happening up there. it is very sad and I am a bit protective of my kids because I want them with me always. See you in a couple of weeks
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