Rest in Peace & Godspeed

Fewer things in recent memory have been more harrowing than reading survivor and witness accounts of the deadly Arkansas flood that claimed the lives of 20 people. Even looking at the list of victims causes a shudder across your heart as you realize how many of them were linked in some way - a child and one of their parents, siblings, husband and wife...

What I was left with... as I tried to keep from imagining the terror of those parents and those so very-young children at finding themselves transported into a camping adventure into the midst of a raging river at 2am... (besides hoping it was oh-so very quick and they truly had no awareness of their plight)... was knowing that every single one of them has moved on to a better place now, with God. And if one can call it fortunate for those who move on - I know that can't be the right word - it's that they didn't make the journey alone. I would never call it fortunate for those who remained - they live without. But they will be reunited with their loved ones again.

Surrounded by people in the mall and supermarket aisles and even the internet searching for the top fat burners and the best sunglasses and most popular video games, and funniest youtube videos, it's easy to get lost in the need to escape and not think about how some people have had the core of their lives ripped away.

I hug my girls all the time anymore, and some days, all day long.