Death

I guess that I have to face reality. People get older and their health fails them or whatever the case may be and they pass on, either to eternal reward with the Savior, or an eternity of punishment. It just seems that the last few years have seen the loss of people who are dear to me. 4 years ago, my Uncle Troy Watkins passed away. Oh man, the memories of being a little boy and how much I loved Uncle Troy. I can remember when I was 4 years old, he and Dad taking me down to Billy Williams' Grocery just up the road and buying me candy. He would always let me go with him wherever he was going when we visited. Such a wonderful man. When Dad and Mom divorced, I had words with Aunt Freeda, Uncle Troy's wife, and I lost all contact with them from 1998 until he died 4 years ago. Do you ever wish you could do it over again? I sure do! I balled like a baby at his funeral when the casket was closed and I knew that I would never see him again.

Three years ago, we got a double whammy. At the end of summer we had a phone call that my Uncle Tommy (Mom's brother) had passed the away. Actually the way it happened was the hospital calling and saying that they needed a family member down there. My mother peiced 2 and 2 together and finally made them tell her that he passed away. He had blood clots really bad and one of them had finally did him in, helped in part by years of drinking and smoking I'm sure.

Not too long after that, we got a phone call early one Sunday morning informing that my cousin Lester had committed suicide. Without going into the details, family members still wonder whether or not it was suicide, but that's beyond the point. Lester was several years younger than me and now he was dead.

Sometimes death is merciful though. A dear saint of God, who was 90 years old, was suffering from Leukemia. She at one point had pastored the church and continued to preach even after stepping down from the pastoral roll. She had gotten to a point where that she couldn't even come to church for the tremendous amount of pain that she was in. Last week the Lord saw fit to call her on home, just a week before she would have been 91. In this case death was a blessing.

So I guess when it comes down to my point, life is short. Sometimes people live to be a good age, other times they do not. The sum of the matter I suppose is as Solomon said-remember the Creator in the days of your youth.