This past week, there have been a number of people who passed away. Not anyone directly related to me, but a friend’s wife, another friend’s brother and another friend’s young son. I was somewhat unexposed to death when I was young. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just strange to adjust to as I get older. It’s one of those things I know will happen to all of us, but the timing sometimes baffles me. Not everyone gets to live to be 95. 

I consider myself to be a woman of faith. I believe in God and although I don’t make it to church every Sunday, I try to keep God in our lives. A mother having to bury her 10 year old son doesn’t make sense to me. Losing a brother suddenly would be hard to handle. Most any death is difficult. It leaves a hole in our hearts. Even if we believe that their souls go to heaven and they are in a better place, it leaves us empty and aching. We want them to be able to experience things with us still physically, instead of just “in spirit.” 

Sometimes death makes us pause and appreciate life. It makes us hug our loved ones more, let go of regrets or take chances. This week, the death of a friend’s wife from leukemia inspired me to take the family to Valley Fair amusement park. My motto this week was, “life is short, ride the coaster!” So a friend and I planned a quick trip to Minneapolis to spend a long, fun-filled day at the amusement park. It was a beautiful day. We made the most of it. We arrived when the park opened and stayed almost until it closed. We did things that I wouldn’t have considered before. Armed with motion sickness pills, we rode coasters like The Wild Thing, Renegade and High Roller. We spent time in the water park and even rode The Wave at sunset and got DRENCHED! Why? Life is short. I wanted to enjoy these things with my family and our friends. (Oh and Myles and I found 3 pennies and 2 dimes. See previous post about pennies from heaven)

The past 2 years have been a roller coaster of emotions, of life. Lots of ups and downs. Sometimes it takes a wild roller coaster for us to really appreciate the lazy river. I’ve certainly had more ups than downs. I have much to be thankful for. I can’t explain why God took these people from their loved ones this week. I don’t understand why he created mosquitos,tornados or cockroaches either. Some things just aren’t for us to understand. We can just thank God for the blessings we do have, hug our family & support our friends. 

I didn’t ride all the rides, but what I did was enough. Enough to make a lasting impression on my kids and to make a good story. (Myles and I were stopped at the TOP of Renegade coaster because some dude took out his phone to take a selfie. The worker had to walk to the top, tell the guy to put his phone away for the 2nd time before we could take off. Interesting story.) Peace be with you on your journey of enough.