Death happened.
Is that how it happens? Death, that is. Just a blink of an eye and it's over? Whatever time you put in on this earth - gone, just like that? How is that one man can lay in a hospital bed for years, agonizing over that day, saying goodbye to family and friends over and over, and yet another man can spend all day working in his yard, like the ox he's always been, feel a little woozy and excuse himself to the restroom only never to come out again? How is that decision made, Lord? And why?
My neighbor died yesterday. My happy, healthy, horse of a neighbor. One of the very firsts to greet me and mark and welcome us when we moved in. The very one who made my plate at the 4th of July bbq, held in his backyard that he had just finished remodeling with his two sons. Craig. The rock of his family, and friends for that matter. A dad with a dad still living, with two sons thriving and a grandson turning one next week. Gone, within minutes, in his own house. You don't expect that, you don't see that coming from someone like him. No health problems, on no medication, doesn't smoke, hardly drinks, still working 5 days a week... You just aren't prepared for that. Whether you've known him for a few months or a decade you'd never think he'd be leaving his house in a gurney. It's just not the way.
But then, maybe it is. Maybe God was so full of joy at the life Craig had lead that He was ready to see his son. Ready to hug him and say well done. Perhaps he was even shown favor by taking him quickly - no months of torture, no years of suffering. Just a bout of nausea, some chest pain then Heaven.
And what do I say to Sheila? When it's 3am and she can't sleep because she hasn't slept alone in over 30 years, what do I say to that? What words are there for a nurse who's spent her life taking care of others, saving others even, when she couldn't save her very own? Where do you cast your eyes when the phone rings for the 50th time and you hear her telling another person the news, where do you look?
I haven't been around death very much. I don't really know the protocol.
I brought over bagels and muffins.
My neighbor died yesterday. My happy, healthy, horse of a neighbor. One of the very firsts to greet me and mark and welcome us when we moved in. The very one who made my plate at the 4th of July bbq, held in his backyard that he had just finished remodeling with his two sons. Craig. The rock of his family, and friends for that matter. A dad with a dad still living, with two sons thriving and a grandson turning one next week. Gone, within minutes, in his own house. You don't expect that, you don't see that coming from someone like him. No health problems, on no medication, doesn't smoke, hardly drinks, still working 5 days a week... You just aren't prepared for that. Whether you've known him for a few months or a decade you'd never think he'd be leaving his house in a gurney. It's just not the way.
But then, maybe it is. Maybe God was so full of joy at the life Craig had lead that He was ready to see his son. Ready to hug him and say well done. Perhaps he was even shown favor by taking him quickly - no months of torture, no years of suffering. Just a bout of nausea, some chest pain then Heaven.
And what do I say to Sheila? When it's 3am and she can't sleep because she hasn't slept alone in over 30 years, what do I say to that? What words are there for a nurse who's spent her life taking care of others, saving others even, when she couldn't save her very own? Where do you cast your eyes when the phone rings for the 50th time and you hear her telling another person the news, where do you look?
I haven't been around death very much. I don't really know the protocol.
I brought over bagels and muffins.
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