Reality Check

I drove past a funeral home yesterday and was startled at how busy it was. The parking lot was full, as were the surrounding business lots, the side streets and even the driveway. It was so chaotic traffic was disrupted on the main road I was driving on. There was a line of people more than two blocks long waiting patiently to be allowed in. Who was this for? I assumed some local dignitary or bar owner or something.

When I got into work this morning, I grabbed yesterday’s paper and looked. It was a 14 year old boy who had lost his long battle with cancer. And I started crying for the family of this boy I had never met. He was obviously so loved by so very many people and had touched so many in his brief life. In a few short days, it will be Mother’s Day, and no matter how blessed she feels to have had him in her life, that days is going to be empty.

There was a line in a movie once, “When you lose a spouse, you’re widowed. When you lose your parents, you’re an orphan. But they don’t have a name for you when you lose a child”. It’s too horrible to think about.

This Sunday, I’ll be hugging my kids a little harder, thanking God a lot more fervently, and praying for this mom and all the others that no longer have a child to hold.