Remember to say I love you

For the first time in months, I had my next blog posting planned and written ahead of time. Everything was ready—all I had left to do was click publish. I'd even started to outline the next blog post. Needless to say, I was really proud of myself.

But then, this morning, things changed and I've decided to hold off on both of those posts in lieu of a tragedy.

For those that don't know, I work for the City at our community golf course. Our Parks and Rec department are some of the best in the state of Texas. We have an ice-skating rink, an event center, two indoor city pools (one a lap-pool, the other, a leisure pool with a lazy river and "crazy" slides), a state of the art gym, a 27 hole golf course, a HUGE park complete with baseball fields, soccer fields, playground equipment, and an outdoor water park. Needless to say, our maintenance workers are utterly incredible.

While all of them are great, I have always been fond of one in particular. We've talked shop, work, family—you name it. If I ever need anything, he's the one to ask. A good ole country boy, he's married with two boys, and lives about an hour out in the country. Because he works on all of the Parks & Rec buildings, I rarely get to see him, but when I do, he brings a smile to my face and I know he'll make sure to stop by and gossip with me before he moves on to his next location.

Yesterday, my coworker received a call while at work and was told to rush to the hospital. His wife, her grandmother, and his 3 year old son had been stopped, waiting to turn left across traffic. They were rear-ended and pushed into incoming traffic, where they flipped over and hit another car. His wife was killed on impact; her grandmother died at the hospital. Their 3 year old son, by the grace of God, survived and is in stable condition.
 
My prayers are with my coworker and his two children, and while I grieve for him and his family, I can't help but think, Oh God. In the blink of an eye, everything changed. It isn't as if he woke up that morning, knowing that his wife would die. She didn't have an expiration date stamped on her wrist, no sickness that foreshadowed death. One moment, the world was fine, and the next, everything went to shit.

God...did I tell J that I loved him before I left for work this morning? No, I didn't. I grabbed the keys off the night-stand, flipped the light switch , and slipped out.

What about my brother? Were our last words in anger? I honestly can't remember.

So when you get home tonight, make sure to tell your family that you love them. Don't even let sleep stand in your way, because death is permanent and tragedy hits everyone.

Goodnight, and God bless.