As I come to the page today I realize I didn’t publish yesterday until a few minutes ago. Again with the double click of the button business. The problem wasn’t the clicking. It was the focus. I was somewhere else. I was looking at a million responsibilities on my list and realizing the clock was winding down. In the end it turned out okay. Beautiful service (I thank myself very much, but the kids did the heavy lifting with their vows and that is what made the entire moment), and this morning I drove my kid back to college after he bussed down to be a part of his sister’s wedding. Then, as I am driving home to attend tonight’s football game I get word that the school is on lockdown. A medical incident has triggered the lockdown. I reach out to the kids to learn that someone leapt from a 2nd floor balcony in an apparent suicide attempt. The facts remain fuzzy. If the kids have it right she broke up with her boyfriend moments earlier (this is homecoming weekend for context) and the emotions of the moment overwhelmed her.
I hope she survived. I do not know if she did. I do know they plan to still have the game this evening, and the homecoming tomorrow. Life will go on beyond this terrible moment, though the quality of the moments in its wake are truly in question. This is the second time in three months someone has died from this school in this fashion. That is a lot. The first death was a kid my son knew and he left school months before it happened. This incident was extremely public. That is troubling in of itself. That it is happening so often is even more disturbing.
I was a kid who contemplated such things. I am a man who has contemplated such things in the last five years. Life is fragile and often very difficult. However, if I left early I wouldn’t have seen my stepdaughter marry last night. I wouldn’t see my son in the homecoming court tonight. I wouldn’t be traveling with the love of my life. I would not have the chance to secure our future together.
Life matters. Even in the moments it seems unfathomable to continue, know there is a better tomorrow waiting for you… If you allow yourself to withstand the storm.