A Moment Of Pause.

Recently our lives have been affected by the lives of others and each of these sad moments has forced us to stop what we are doing and thank our lucky stars that it was not us. It has made us STOP and reassess what is truly important to us and make us realise that we are not immortal and that life cannot be taken for granted.

I started blogging in 2006 and have followed the same blogs continuously. I have added a few along the way but the same ones have remained. Some of them are no longer on my blogroll because they are private now but I still read them. Some don't post often and some have gone from the blogging world and have chosen Facebo*k. When I started to follow Joannah she was also waiting to bring home her daughter from China, she was single and her blog was just different. I loved it, it is was classy. One day she reached a fork in her road of life and chose to forfeit her adoption and marry the man of her dreams. I was saddened at first for her daughter that wouldn't be but I followed along on her new life on her new blog and was thrilled to see her so happy. This was 2 short years ago. Her and her hubby struggled with infertility and then last November her husband was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away last Sunday. Joannah, lost her true love. This was a story of love, dreams and commitment. It is heartbreaking, simply heartbreaking. Please, stop by her blog and leave a note for her.

Then there is the story of Layla Grace. I think nearly everyone with a FB account or Twitt*r account has heard of her. Again, a heartbreaking story that brings us to tears. She passed away this morning at age 2. Each night I hug the girls so tight they say ouch.

Much closer to home is a friend of ours who is laying in a hospital bed with multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed , 3 broken ribs, a collapsed lung and on a ventilator because on his way home from work 2 weeks ago he was stopped at a traffic light waiting to make a left turn when a drunk driver hit him from behind. The arsehat that hit him, well he is fine of course but our friend who has a four year old son and a fabulous wife who barely leaves his bedside well they are not doing so well. Bryans prognosis is good but in the meantime every single day is a struggle for his family. Drunk drivers really don't deserve time on this earth.

My own BIL is undergoing chemo but he is doing it with gusto and humour. By brother is there by his side for the most part. LOL. He doesn't make the best nurse, or so I hear.

All of these things gave us a moment to pause. It shouldn't really be necessary for things like this to happen to make us take stock and be thankful for everything we have but they have a way of making you notice. So for now I am trying to not sweat the small stuff and making each moment with my family count. When things aren't going well I try to put them into perspective right then and there and realise in the scheme of things that they probably just don't matter at all.