I was scrolling Instagram when the news broke about Kobe Bryant’s death. I’m not a huge fan, I didn’t follow his career but like most Americans I know him, he’s one of the greatest, his name is up there with MJ, Reggie, Lebron. You don’t need his last name because you know his first. I read it and audibly gasped. I just looked at Josh and said, “Kobe died.”
Some deaths, they’re just more shocking than others. They cause you to pause longer. They make you look at yourself say, “Wow, I really am going to die.” I imagine in those final moments that the thoughts of Kobe and the other parents in the helicopter turned to their children, wanting to save their children and knowing they couldn’t. And that makes me break inside. I really can not fathom the despair that happens inside of a parent in a moment like that. It’s what makes these deaths harder, because our children are so precious.
Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and the others who died yesterday didn’t wake up knowing they would. They woke up, went to church and were ready to go play their favorite game. Like them, our next moments aren’t promised and we can’t know if we will make it home every night.
Tomorrow isn’t promised. And you know that. And I know that. But how quickly do we forget that? How quickly do we forget to just love a little better each day. How quickly do we fall into the trap of being annoyed at the little things or even the big things, that maybe aren’t really big in the grand scheme. How often do we forget to really just live and breathe to the fullest extent that our bodies will let us.
I don’t know.
I just know life is fragile. And you woke up today and you really don’t know what’s going to happen and you might wake up tomorrow but maybe not.
So say the thing you need to say. And slow down and listen to your children laugh, let them lay on you and feel their bodies full of life. Make your favorite meal. Text an old friend. Write a letter. Tell your mom you love her. Forgive. Go to church. Devour a book. Run. Wake up early and watch the sunset. Show up. Love your family.
All you have is right now.
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