Saddened

Recently, there have been many tragic deaths. Personally, I have been to more funerals than I could possibly count.


First, there was Natasha Richardson. Then through the blogging world, I came across the deaths of Zach Sowers, and Maddie Spohr. I became engrossed in reading their stories. I found myself crying over the deaths of these people, whom I had never met in my life. Since little Maddie's death, over $55,000 has been raised in support of March for Dimes (as she was born 3 months premature). It is such a bittersweet situation - I am amazed and proud that people who are strangers will support and mourn the loss of someone they don't know. But, it makes me sad at the same time that innocent lives are lost that cause people to act.

Finally, there is Steph Parente, who was a sophomore at my alma mater, Loyola College, MD. She, along with her parents and younger sister were found dead in a hotel room in Towson. Her parents were visiting her for the weekend. You can read the details at the link. It makes me proud to be a greyhound when I read that 1/3 of the undergraduate students attended a mass last night at 9pm to remember her. Clearly, 1,000 people didn't know her - but it just shows the strength of the Loyola community. Loyola is a small Jesuit college - so to gather this much strength from the community is amazing.


Death is scary to me. Losing people in our lives is devastating. I think it changes each of us in different ways. For me, having lost some close family and friends has made me more compassionate. It also has made me realize how fragile life truly is. I think it contributes to my unwillingness to ever go to bed angry with Ian. Inevitably if I'm irritated when he leaves to go somewhere, I call within a couple minutes of him leaving just to smooth things out and make up. It comes from fear. Although, I hardly think that using the fear to do good things, like making up more quickly with my husband, is a bad thing. So I'll take the fear.

It also makes me ridiculously tearful - every time I come across another sad story, I can't help but cry. I didn't cry when Ian proposed, or at my wedding - but sad stories get to me. I can honestly sit and just think about a sad story, or worry about something bad happening, and I start crying.

So today I'll be especially aware of how precious life can be, and remember the people who are suffering because of the tragic loss of a loved one in their lives.