The Loss of a Life...

It's the little things in life that often go underappreciated.

The smell of the air after it's rained outside. The feel of soft sheets in bed. Warm food from the oven. The sound of dogs barking on a sunny day. The sound of a child's laughter. Spending time together with your family on a Sunday afternoon. Walking across the lawn barefoot in the summer to get mail from the mailbox. Taking a hot shower. Eating an ice cream cone. Saying "I love you." Hearing "I love you". Making plans for tomorrow. Next week. Next month. Next year.

We got a call last night that my husband's aunt passed away. She was 45 years old.

She had been diagnosed over the summer with leukemia; we knew that with the type of leukemia she was struggling with she would have a few years at the most; but while she was deemed "terminal", she was not on death's door. She was responding well to chemotherapy; she had put on weight - and despite the loss of her hair, she looked and felt great. Better than she had in months. Maybe even years.

It wasn't the leukemia that took her life so suddenly. It was an aneurisim in her brain. She was in the hospital for a marrow transfer, and that went well. She was preparing to go home, and she was complaining of headaches. And then, she was gone. Literally here one minute.....gone the next.

I suppose in retrospect, it's better to go quickly than to have withered away from the disease that was inside of her. She leaves behind a family that loved her tremendously, including two heartbroken children. Their lives will never be the same again.

So whatever your trouble is for today....financial, personal, professional, emotional...put it aside. Take a few minutes to step back and appreciate the world around you.

Because life is too short.
Truly.