I'm thinking about Terry and Maureen as I often do. I wanted to offer three small things:
AN APPRECIATION: When I was still in my thirties, I was at a memorial service for a friend who had died in a car accident. I sat with one of my closest lifelong friends who, eight weeks earlier, had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. In this incredibly dark moment for all of us, my friend said, “You assume I’ll die before you will, but you could step out of this church and get hit by a bus. None of us are promised tomorrow. We all need to live our lives that way. This disease gave me that gift and I’m giving it to you.” That gift is never far from my thoughts.
A STORY OF HOPE: Maureen already knows this. That same friend who sat next to me that evening with roughly 24 weeks left in his terminal prognosis is still with us 24 years later. We golf. We go to ballgames. We talk about our kids. And we still know we’re not promised tomorrow.
SOME PERSPECTIVE: Life is filled with miracles. We’ve all seen them. Miracles of science. Divine miracles. Miracles of the human spirit. I believe we are ALWAYS capable of miraculous things. You guys have already proven it over and over. There is nothing more miraculous than creating a loving family. From the moment my oldest daughter was born, I’ve known that, whether I am called today, next year, next decade, or next century, I have taken part in creating a miracle. Nobody can ever take that from me or from you. And the same holds true for whatever miracles – small or large – still lay ahead.
AN APPRECIATION: When I was still in my thirties, I was at a memorial service for a friend who had died in a car accident. I sat with one of my closest lifelong friends who, eight weeks earlier, had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. In this incredibly dark moment for all of us, my friend said, “You assume I’ll die before you will, but you could step out of this church and get hit by a bus. None of us are promised tomorrow. We all need to live our lives that way. This disease gave me that gift and I’m giving it to you.” That gift is never far from my thoughts.
A STORY OF HOPE: Maureen already knows this. That same friend who sat next to me that evening with roughly 24 weeks left in his terminal prognosis is still with us 24 years later. We golf. We go to ballgames. We talk about our kids. And we still know we’re not promised tomorrow.
SOME PERSPECTIVE: Life is filled with miracles. We’ve all seen them. Miracles of science. Divine miracles. Miracles of the human spirit. I believe we are ALWAYS capable of miraculous things. You guys have already proven it over and over. There is nothing more miraculous than creating a loving family. From the moment my oldest daughter was born, I’ve known that, whether I am called today, next year, next decade, or next century, I have taken part in creating a miracle. Nobody can ever take that from me or from you. And the same holds true for whatever miracles – small or large – still lay ahead.