Losing a child is something I don't want to think about. Miscarrying the first time I got pregnant was difficult enough. Yet it happens...to strangers, to friends, to family.
One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was plan the funeral of my nephew, Slayter, who died from a heart defect at eight days old. I wanted to die myself as I stood in front of the row of tiny caskets trying to decide which one to pick. The only thing that got me through the ordeal was thoughts of my sister. I knew her grief and sorrow had to be a million times worse than what I was feeling. That's why she'd asked me to make the arrangements because she knew she couldn't and was counting on me to get it done.
Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a beautiful song called Cinderella. Please watch and listen to the words. Keep watching after the song ends because he talks about what prompted him to write it and this, to me, is the most important part.
He's so right about slowing down and enjoying those moments whether it's with family, friends or both. I've been trying ever since I turned in the Mount Hood book last December, but it's easy to forget when deadline time rolls around. But I can't forget. I need to stop trying and just do it no matter what's going on because no one knows what tomorrow will bring. And as he says in the song:
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone.
