you never know

i went to a celebration of life today. it was for a friend named jenny who had been my boss 15 years ago. she was only 12 years older than me. her life ended in an instant and totally unexpected. she woke up last monday and got into the shower and passed out. her husband heard her fall and ran to help her up. she said i need to go to the hospital... she died in the ambulance on the way.

my heart is aching... aching for her family... aching for her husband... even for her pets, whom she loved so much! for some reason this death has hit me hard. harder than most. perhaps it's because we worked together, perhaps because i just saw her not that long ago, or perhaps because she wasn't that much older than me and was in good health except for a broken foot. i don't know. unfortunately that broken foot aided in her death. she died from a blood clot.

i cried all the way home. it was a beautiful service that talked so much about her love for Jesus and others and also her cats, but for some reason i am still so sad. i know she went to heaven, i'm confident in that, but i'm still heartbroken.

as i listened to people share their memories of jenny i sat back and thought of my family. how i love them and how i want them to know deep down that they are loved by God and by me. how they are so beautiful in His sight and mine and i thought about how short life is... because you never know!