Hello from Northern Virginia

I have good news, and I have bad news.

First the good! We have had a wonderful week visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and three great grandkids. On Wednesday our son, Chris, was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He has been a member of the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps for 15 years, and served as mellophone section leader, chief of operations, head of public relations, company gunnery sergeant, temporary assistant drum major, and horn line seciton leader. Can you see why he was chosen to become the next officer of the D&B?

Later this month Chris will begin 6 months officer training at Quantico Marine Base, here in Virginia, and then assume his duties as Executive Officer of the D&B. We're all quite excited for him. This has been his goal for several years, and we've been sitting on pins and needles since February for the actual event to happen.

Shelly and I flew to DC Tuesday evening and began a wonderful time with Chris and his family. We were equally blessed to have Courtnie's folks there at the same time. We hadn't seen both of the "in-laws" for a few years, and so we had fun celebrating and visiting. Early Thursday, Courtnie's parents drove to their home in Florida.

Chris, Courntie, Shelly and I made plans to go to the grandkids football games and to watch the Buckeyes battle Wisconsin. This is a particular treat for Chris & me, because we don't often get to share our mutual love for the Bucks in person.

But, on Friday evening we received a frantic phone call from Courtnie's mother. Her father had been found not breathing, and was being rushed to the hospital. As you can imagine everything was in panic mode for the next half hour. There were phone calls among the three sisters and the mom. We ushered the grandkids to their parents' bedroom and bedded them down. Chris tried to steady Courtnie.

About thirty minutes later the phone call that everyone dreaded rang. The doctors were unable to revive Courtnie's father, and the grieving began. How amazing. He had seemed so healthy just two days earlier. He was pretty fit for a recently retired man. He exercised regularly, and wasn't overweight.

Chris and Courtnie decided to drive to Florida that very night. The other daughters live in Illinois and Texas, so Courtnie went to her mother to help comfort and console her. Shelly and I remained in Virginia to watch the kids, and so had to extend our stay. We rescheduled our flight, and thanks to the airline, they did so without charging us a penalty.

Chris, Courtnie and her mom will be returning home later this week. Shelly and I will travel back to Omaha and to our jobs. It has been a blessing to spend the past three days watching our grandkids. It does bring back memories of our three about 25 years ago.

But it gives us pause to reflect, too. Imagine going from the height of celebration to the depths of grief.

For Chris and Courtnie, the past 8 months of waiting have been pretty gruelling. A lot of patience has been worked into their characters over that time. They wondered if they would ever have a chance to get excited and celebrate, and then to only have a couple of days. They deserved more time.

What is the lesson now? How will the family move through the process of grieving the loss of its head, and once again turn eyes to the future and hope?

I pray that the God of comfort, who saw Chris and Courtnie through those 8 gruelling months, will show Himself even more present and strong in the days to follow. I pray that He will bear the family up in His wings, and wipe away all their tears. I pray that He will turn their mourning into dancing.

Life will go on. Death is only one part of the cycle of life. The young are full of love and laughter and will bring joy to their parents' and grandparents' hearts. Hearts will be consoled, and hearts will remember with love him who is no longer with us.

Thanks for reading this post. I hope that you will take a little time to reflect on the blessings of your life and to show appreciation for those around you that you love.