There was this kid who died earlier today. He was only 17.
17.
Two days ago my uncle got into an accident when a truck crashed into his scooter and he flew into the air. He walked away with no broken bones but severely banged up. He should have died, according to the people on the scene.
The day before that I was driving to Starbucks when I saw the scene of a small accident. No one was injured but one of the cars was smashed up in the front. I could not see the woman, but for her back and I could see that she was shaking and crying. My own eyes welled with tears.
3 separate accidents, 3 different people, 3 different outcomes.
My heart aches. I feel so much. Way more than I could express in a blog post right now, but the most dominant feeling is remembering how fleeting life is. Birth, the dash, and death.
We go around everyday worrying and fretting over out trivial concerns. We have conversations, grab our food to go, drive around, take trips, make friends, we laugh. And suddenly, without warning, it's just done. Only God knows our expiration date. It gives a lot of weight to what we are doing while we are alive.
I didn't know this kid who passed away, but seems that many of the teens in my life DID know him, and maybe some of them even knew him well. I imagine their sadness, the heavy cloaks of grief his parents and family must feel as they think about how they just saw him yesterday.
When someone dies I always think about weird things. What was their last meal? Did they have to go to the bathroom?
What was this boy thinking about as he drove? What passed his mind before that car slammed into him ending his life forever?
I took a peek at his Facebook page and just a few days ago he "liked" In and Out Burger.
A few days ago.
I sit here sobbing.
I didn't know this kid, but it doesn't matter. He is all of us and we are him.
Not one of us is invincible. Whether we die in old age or die young, the end result is always going to be death.
I am reminded to love life and to cherish it, even in the difficult moments. Because a difficult moment is still an alive moment. It's still ours.
I feel challenged to be aware of my own breathing. The one thing we take advantage of more than anything else. In, out, in, out. A heart beating, a brain creating thoughts, lips that open and speak.
Today may be our only day to love people, our only day to make a difference in our sphere of influence. Let us be oh so grateful.
You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.
James 4:14
Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.
Psalm 144:4
Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
Psalm 39:4
This kid had likes, dislikes, friends, a family. He was probably planning for his future. And now he is gone.
It happens everyday, to so many people. Let us value life and the gift we have in it right now, at this very moment.
Celebrate.
