Thankful

I am reminded this month to recognize those things we are most thankful for.

I am forever thankful for my children, and everyday that I have to tell them how much I love them. Everyday that I get to hug them, speak with them, spend every moment of time I can with them. I am thankful for all those hours I spend at their practices being able to watch them move, and be, to see them live their lives.

This has been a rough week in our community. My oldest son had some friends that were killed in a car accident, two died and two were seriously hurt. It has been a huge reminder to me of what is truly important in life, the people you love. It is amazing how many lives are affected by this, it is like a spider web that spreads through out the community. It has touched so many different people.

Losing a child is tragic, heartbreaking. The hardest funerals I have ever attended involved those under 20 years old. It just is not natural. And so wrenching to the heart of every parent. My heart is crying for those parents that lost their sons. They were good boys, and the light of their parents lives. I can only imagine what I would feel if my son had been in that car. It is a horrible feeling to feel relief that your child is okay, when someone else has lost their precious child. I long for their children to be okay also.

It is painful to understand, let alone explain these deaths to my younger children. Hard to let your kids walk out the door out of your sight. I feel like I have to call Anthony everyday just to hear his voice and know that he is Okay. I am sad that his life will be forever changed by these events. This is the first death of a friend that he has experienced. It is always that first tragic event that changes your whole being. He will never be that young carefree kid that doesn't know this pain. It makes me cry for his group of friends that will feel this loss for so long.

It was a huge wake up call for me. I question the things I find myself focusing on. Does it really matter if Coltons soccer team sucks this year. Will it change things if they don't do the dishes the way I would like them done. Does it really matter that they forgot for TWO weeks to put out the garbage can (BUT MAN WAS I MAD BEFORE THIS!). Or when they ate the last jar of canned peaches that I really, really wanted. I realized that these are such minor things and really will be lost in the big picture of this thing we call life.

So here I sit praying that these families have the strength to make it through their tragedy. Hope that they will have the support they need. Hope that they find a way to make it through all of this with their sanity intact, because that is what I feel I would lose if it was me. And forever and ever thankful for every single minute (even the arguments where I want to duct tape their mouths shut) that I have with my children.

My moto this month is: Hug your children and tell them you love them every single day, you don't know how long you have them for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I know mine will be spent reflecting on the important things in my life. I hope yours is a happy one also!