Sobering

Today went so well. We all slept through the night. It was sunny and mild with a slight breeze. Claire and I walked to downtown Pymouth for the kids concert in the park then stopped Ina few shops before lazily walking home. We made yummy lasagne roll-ups and pull-apart galic bread for dinner. We found this big gal on our front door and watched her devour a rather large cricket (Mike is so morbid!):

Claire played around her pool and got her hair wet:

But then I received two pieces of sobering news this evening.

1. A friend from college, Bri, has a little boy (age 1) who was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2013. Unfortunately, his treatments appear to have not quite done enough to beat the disease and they are now going to be considering a bone marrow transplant. This means also testing their 4 year-old daughter to see if she would be a match. It's just so sad to hear about children who have to suffer through things as horrible as this.

2. I learned that a young man I went to schools with from 4th-8th grade in TAG passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last weekend. Michael Dempsey was such a *boy* in grade school and I have many memories of him and the other boys talking Mortal Combat, Mario, Legos, etc. he went on to become an urban planner and had done great work and accomplished much in Iraq, Abu Dhabi, and other countries overseas. What's sad, in addition, is how many of the 39+kids from our TAG class have reconnected as a result. Though I hadn't seen him since grade school, I will probably go to the viewing in town this Friday to share my support for his family.

All these things, from the cricket sacrifice to Baby Carl to Mike, reinforce just how fragile life is and how fleeting our lives are in Gods time. It makes me want to kiss my daughter, hug my husband, cherish every breath that flows through my body.