Life is Precious

Last Wednesday night I attended my first company event. A large group from the company went to a ballgame. I went home thinking how much better I had gotten to know my co-workers, and was looking forward to joking with them the next day about some of the funny event that occurred that night. As I drove in to the office the next morning, there was no traffic, and I got to the office early. As I was in the kitchen making my oatmeal, when one of my co-workers walked in with the most terrified look on her face. I thought she was just feeling ill, and I asked her if she was OK, and she said no she wasn't. The next thing out of her mouth still shocks me to this day, "I was watching the news this morning, and they said Justin Stout ran his car under an 18-wheeler, and was killed instantly". My first response was to question it, and think that it was some sort of sick coincidence. I rushed to my computer, and searched the Internet, and there it was in the middle of the page. A terrible picture of what was barely recognizable as a small black SUV. It was true. Justin Stout, 26 year old from Bedford had been killed.

I have only been at this company for 3 months, and although our offices were next to each other we rarely talked. And now I will never have those chances to get to know him, a person that I now know was a caring, intelligent, and loved person. He was loved by his co-workers that were more friends than associates. He was loved by his family, and his wife. I did not know him well, but I know that he always wanted to be surrounded by his friends and family. He was always wanting to go out and do things. He always talked about his brother, and how proud of him he was. He talked about his wife, and you could tell that she was the love of his life.

I have learned much more about him since his tragic and sudden passing, but there is something I have learned about myself as well. I was reminded of how short life can be. How every moment is a passing one, and no matter how hard we reach, it can never be slowed or held onto. I was reminded of how important each and every person is in my life. I could not imagine a world without all the people in my life, but I also realized that I do not treat them that way. I now see how we all do this. If God came to you tonight and told you that a specific person was no longer going to be here would you ask God for another day so you could call them, or see them? What we fail to realize is that God has already granted us that day, that hour, that minute that we would pray for if we knew who and when. Think about the times that you see your friend in passing, thought about calling, or sending an e-mail. Those are the moments God has granted us. God granted me the opportunities with Justin, and I failed to see it, and now it is too late. I keep telling myself that I won't let that happen again, but I know it will. We are all so busy, too busy. I would challenge you all to think of your time here differently. Instead of waiting until it is too late to spend that time, spend it now. Life your life full, and include everybody you can in it.

At the end of life you are laid to rest, and the lasting symbol of your life will be your headstone. On it, it will read your name, the date you were born and the day you died. Your name will always be remembered by your family and friends. They will also remember the day you were born, and the day you died. Those dates, and their significance will fade over time, as will the grief slowly fade, but the part that will be remembered will be what is between those dates. Your entire life will be reduced to a symbol, a hyphen. We all have a hyphen, the question is what are we going to do with our hyphen. Will we give of our time freely to others? What will we sacrifice? What will we do in this world that will be remembered? What will be tied to our names? I encourage everyone to enjoy their hyphen, do good with your hyphen, and cherish the hyphens of those around you, because we do not know the day or the hour, but it will come for us all.