Hug a little tighter

Well I hugged my kids a little tighter today as I was reminded how precious and sometimes short life can be. A friend of mine from church lost her husband of 15 years to cancer this week, and I attended the funeral. I have only known this family since we moved here to Iowa, but I have been so impressed by them! It was interesting to hear a bit more about his life. I was asked to bring funeral potatoes and was supposed to have them there by 9:00am. Circumstances in the morning put me in the car at 8:15 (Drew forgot to bring a poop-bag with him when he walked Abby this morning, so being the responsible person that I am, we were driving my usual 'walkers' to school. With a short stop to pick up her droppings on the way-lovely!). SO, I decided to drop off the potatoes as well a bit early. Good thing I didn't drop the potatoes on the way to school and deliver the poop to the chapel- THAT would have been embarrassing...

BTW did you know that there is a website depicting what LDS people do for a funerals and listed as a tradition are 'funeral potatoes' along with a recipe? Not that surprising I guess. The preschool teacher was asking me all kinds of questions about appropriate LDS funeral procedure, to pass along correct information to fellow friends of hers at University Preschool. Christi had kids who went to the same preschool. Teacher KiKi mentioned the potatoes to me just as I was about to ask about it (I swear!)

So I was there early and happened to see the hearse pull up delivering Rick's body. I didn't really time it this way, but as I was headed into the building so were they. Two funeral-home workers, myself and the casket. I asked if I could hold the door, and they were appreciative. I told them I was proud to do it, delivered my funeral potatoes and went home to think. Life is hard, and it's so hard to know what to say to them. But having been through the loss of my mother to cancer, I can empathize a bit more I guess, and realize that everything I have can be taken away in a moment. Troy is out of town this week, and I just keep thinking that it's hard to be the only adult around, and this is what Christi faces from now on. She is very capable and strong. She will have to be from now on I guess. I pray for her and her children, and with mine- I can hug them a bit tighter and be a bit more grateful today...

PS I just snapped at Evan who scared me to death while I was trying to focus on my blog and what I wanted to say. So much for good intentions. (I have so much to learn!)