Treat each day with loved ones like a gift
Two high school students - young women - dead.
One, a freak auto accident; one, a sudden blood clot.
That afternoon they had done all those things high school students do - finished up their classes, participated in extracurricular activities, ran a few errands, did homework. That evening they were both dead.
Their classmates were stunned. Raised in a world where violence and death have been both glorified and sanitized in the movies and on TV, naively convinced of their own immortality, they struggled to comprehend the violent and unanticipated end of life.
"If it could happen to them ..." most went no further, preferring not to follow such a line of thought to its logical conclusion.
We parents, more worldly, were simply frightened. We had been reminded of something we all knew, but chose to - no, had to - forget. Life was fragile, incredibly fragile; even the lives of our children.
I suspect we were all a bit uneasy the rest of the day. We watched our kids a bit more closely, held them a bit more tightly, worried a bit more when they were out of the house.
Yet life has to go on. Our children have to go into the world, make their own way, take risks, learn from their successes and failures. And we can't protect them from every consequence or illness or accident. We all know that. We'd just rather it weren't true.
An oft-repeated bit of folk wisdom suggests we need to live every day as though it were our last. We really can't do that. We need to live today as though there is a tomorrow, for much of what will make tomorrow worth living has to be done today, whether it's shopping for the groceries or getting an education.
On the other hand, perhaps we all need to be more aware of the opportunities to live today more fully, especially in how we relate to those around us.
Life is fragile, and the lives of those we love are a precious gift. We have to cherish that gift each and every day that it is ours to enjoy.
• The Rev. Ken Potts is a pastoral counselor and marriage and family therapist with Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Centers, Naperville and Downers Grove. His book, "Take One A Day," can be ordered at local bookstores or online.