Well…we had a great Christmas season.  We experienced a full spectrum of emotion.  We shared in ultimate joy with all the wonderful delivery stories related to Operation Undies that people shared with me, see here. We shared some great moments as a family and celebrated the birth of our Savior who we desperately needed to get through the grief we experienced over the last several weeks.

One of my dearest friends, whom I’ve practically shared my whole life with since Kindergarten and was roommates with in College, was in a terrible car accident that resulted in the loss of her adorable 12-year-old son CJ.  He was killed on impact.

She was in a coma for several weeks and has a brain injury.  But…she has since opened her eyes and is communicating via hand squeezes and thumbs up and down. She’s at a skilled nursing facility now where specialized therapies are helping her to make great strides. We’re hopeful that she’ll recover fully from this accident but recovery is likely to last months or years and since she slept through her son’s burial, no one is very anxious to tell her that he’s gone.

It’s been a very interesting experience going through this grieving process. I haven’t experienced tragedy like this in many years. The sorrow comes in waves like the ocean.  It seems to have high and low tides just like any massive body of water. The celebration of Christ’s birth and the season of giving has been the only solace to counter the grief.

If you’re making resolutions this year, make one of them to love your children, and cherish your husband or wife. Take lots of photos and do a lot of fun things together.  Don’t sweat the small stuff and try harder to enjoy your life. Love your body whatever shape it comes in. You don’t appreciate how glorious your body and brain are and how much they do for you without you even noticing until you witness something like this and the thought of even getting a good portion of the functionality back is your greatest hope.

Resolve to always make sure your tires are in good condition and are properly inflated and to commit to wearing your seat belts always in the car. My friends accident is believed to be a result of a tire blow out, a freak accident.  Sometimes there is nothing you can do to prevent something like this.  It just happens, but we can do our part to ensure our cars are in good working order.  I know I sure never payed much attention to my tires until now.  You literally have SO MUCH riding on those things, they deserve regular TLC.

Your life really is so precious and rare try to remember and appreciate that from time to time.