1 and 2. On the far left is a picture of Kevin and I with his Dad's parents, Anne and Ed, at our wedding. They were amazing people of great faith who made many sacrifices to raise their 6 kids. I love hearing stories about their wonderful lives from their chronic shopping for great deals on things like toilet paper so they could donate it to those in need to Ed's amazing ability to talk his way into anything, for example free pizza. We often ask for their intercession, like when we were searching for our first home. After putting a bid down on our house we came to find out they used to live on the same street about 100 blocks away several years ago. Yep, we love Anne and Ed.
3. In the middle is my dad. He passed away of cancer when I was in college, but only after suffering for many years. I wrote about him a while back on his death anniversary, which also happens to be my son's birthday... we're pretty sure he passes on our prayers to the Lord.
4. On the far right is a picture of Kevin and his best friend Jared who passed away in a car accident while he was in seminary. In this picture they were on a moped headed to play tennis in my neighborhood. I still laugh picturing these two grown men riding together on our little moped down our suburban streets. Jared was a punk, a holy punk. Like Ed he could talk his way into anything and bullied people into doing what he wanted, but it was always in good fun. Jared made everyone feel like they were the most amazing person in the world. On the way to his funeral we saw a go-cart track on the side of the highway, it wasn't open but the owner happened to be outside when we pulled up, so we took a spin around the track in Jared's honor because he would have wanted us to. We miss our bully.
Today is a great time to reflect on those we miss as well as our own mortality. One day we will, God willing, join them in heaven and that is when LIFE will truly begin.
