Impact

We have all received the chain emails, you know the ones I mean. They go on and on about how important each day is, how important it is to live like this is your last day. So often I read them and delete them.

Yesterday I received an email from the brother of a dear friend. Ellen was Sophie's speech therapist for 2 years. She is a wonderful person, and became like a member of our family. She is married, and has two children, a little boy who is almost 3, and a baby girl who is 9 ms old. The last time I saw her was right before she delivered her baby girl. She came to visit Sophie and to meet Michael and Emily. On Monday, Ellen's husband died quite suddenly and unexpectedly. He was 40 years old.

I attended his funeral today, and it was one of the most moving funeral services I have ever been to. The outpouring of love shown for this man amazed me. Through the eulogies given by his brother and father I came to know him in a different way. He was truely a man who wanted to give back to others. Ellen also wrote a letter to him to say goodbye, and her brother read it for her. She has always been an eloquent person, and this letter was no exception. It was written with grace and dignity, and most of all, love. Through her words we all saw how much her husband meant to her, and how much he will be missed.

I am not really sure what compelled me to blog about this. I guess because today was such a wakeup call for me, I wanted to share that. This I do know: today made me appreciate my husband and children in a way that I didn't yesterday.