Yesterday I found out that the best friend of another mother
I know lost her child this week. He died just a week short of his second
birthday. I didn't find out exactly what happened, but discerned it was some
sort of sudden illness. Grace's second birthday is only a couple of
weeks away, so this news hit me hard. I've been thinking a lot of what this woman
and her husband, and the rest of their family and friends, must be going
through. I cannot imagine it. I choose not to try very hard to imagine it, in
fact. But I do know that I, and so many others I know, are truly, deeply
blessed. Whatever we may be dealing with at a given moment with our children,
whether it's day to day annoyances, acute or chronic illness, or any of the
myriad other issues that crop up in the course of parenting, we have our
children today, now, in this moment, with us in our lives. To say each moment is precious is certainly a cliche, but that makes it no less true. We don't know how long this gift of life we've been given will last, for ourselves or those we love. We don't need to be happy and joyous in each and every moment, but let us live in each and every moment: whatever the feeling, whatever the circumstances, let us be fully in that moment. And the next, and the next, and the next.
