It's been

a long day.   I drove a friend to the airport, came home and decorated for Relief Society, and then had our Relief Society dinner and party.  But that was all good.  The part that made it long was the feeling of sadness for those who are going through hard times.

I learned last night on facebook of an accident involving the father of one of our former neighbors.  We knew the father from high school and his daughter lived right behind us.  He and his wife were out walking and a car lost control, and hit another car, which then hit them from behind.  He apparently died instantly and she is very injured.  My heart goes out to the family.

Then this morning we learned that our friend, neighbor and former Bishop, Roger Reynolds, passed away last night also.  He and his wife have been such good friends to us.  We knew he was not doing well, but we were not expecting this.  I was so glad that Gary and I had seen him just last Tuesday.  I had called and left a message for them saying that we would like to come by to visit sometime.  Roger called back about a half hour later and said to come that night.   He had told some other friends to come by that night, and they had left shortly before we came.  He was obviously uncomfortable and not feeling well, but I feel like he wanted to reach out to his friends.  And I'm so glad we were able to have that last visit with him.  His youngest daughter had just gotten married on February 23, and he was able to be there for all of that.  I'm so happy that he was able to be there for that special day.  

That, on top of just learning from Tom's blog the day before,  that Jean's brother, Charles, had died of a sudden heart attack last Thursday.  He was a marathon runner and only 57 years old.   I had only been with Charles a handful of times, but the last time was at Jean's funeral.  He sat with us at the funeral luncheon and was always so gracious and nice.   So sad for his family.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that you never really know what tomorrow brings. We know that death is part of life, but somehow it always catches us by surprise.

So the lesson learned, once again,  is to love, and feel, and appreciate each moment and cherish each relationship.