A week later…

Last Sunday, September 28, I awoke to the sad news that the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away. President Nelson just celebrated his 101st birthday less than 3 weeks prior to his passing. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise but as someone I respect and appreciate for his wisdom and teaching, it was still a rather somber morning as I prepared to attend church. But because my church time is a bit later than typical, I also heard the news of Grand Blanc, Michigan and the tragedy there. Normally, I don’t watch television before church services so that I can keep my mind focused on the Sabbath. Sunday morning though, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. While it wasn’t any worse than other horrible tragedies this world is suffering lately, it was more poignant for me.

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Just in the other room…

My mom passed away 14 years ago this December. In some ways, it feels like yesterday. There are a few memories of that December I still carry with me. In other ways though, I can feel those 14 years as a distance. And converting those 14 years into distance, it reaches all the way to the moon. Occasionally though, that distance is shortened at night while I sleep. Every now and then, my subconscious brings mom back to me in my dreams.

Sort of.

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I remember it differently…

It might be said that we each do our best to create fond memories. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say no one wants to carry around unpleasant memories. At least for the most part, I think it’s safe to assume we’d rather keep in store good and healthy times. An off-shoot of that would naturally be we want others to remember us fondly as well. But that second part gets a little tricky.

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