Thankful Thursday

Last Thursday I forgot to post - it was such a busy week that it was Saturday before I realized I forgot.  Andy then suggested for a change that week I should do a Selfish Saturday.  Funny boy.

Today I have something really special to be thankful for.  This week, one of my friend's father past away unexpectedly.  As I have helped her through this unexpected loss as best as I could - and I know I cant begin to understand what she is going through -  I realized how fortunate I have been when it comes to not having had a loss like this before.  I have never really lost a loved one, with exception to elderly grandparents - and their deaths were expected after long years of sickness.  I haven't had close friends pass away, lost children, siblings, parents - nobody.  I can count on one hand and not even fill it up the number of funerals I have attended.  I am thankful for this.  I understand that when we die we don't cease to exist.  I know that God lives and loves us and that there is a plan in place for each of us.  I know that our spirits live on.  This knowledge comforts me when I think about and see the pain my friend is going through.  I am thankful for this knowledge.  I am thankful that my own dear parents are still living.  They are older than this friend's father.  I worry about them because I know that I am getting to that stage in life when their lives are in their final decades.  My dad is 68 yrs old and I worry about him when he lifts heavy things or does construction on our family cabin.

I am thankful that for now, we are all still together on this earth.  But if tomorrow came and my family was taken from me I am also thankful to know that this will not be the end of us.  That we are a forever family - and we will be united once again in the life after this.