A New Week and A Fresh Start

This week was kind of a rough week; it started out great, and we were accomplishing lots of things, including getting a lot done with school. Wednesday night, we were sitting around the supper table, when the phone rang. It was my mom, and she had some really bad news. My neighbor, who I had grown up with and spent so many of my days with, had been killed that day. He was taking his usual nap in the basement, and somehow his shotgun that was in the corner, got knocked over, and it shot him through the heart and killed him instantly as he was laying there sleeping. He never knew what hit him, which we can be thankful for, and he was a Christian. The first thought I had was that I hadn't gone to see him; he had asked my dad to tell me to come see him, and I hadn't done it. His name was Leonard, and he was like a grandpa to me. His wife, Cleo, is still living, and my heart just breaks for her. It was a huge shock, and it brought many tears. I just kept thinking how I would never feel that hug around my neck again from him. I kept thinking about his family that he left behind. I remember so many summer days spent at their house, just hanging out. Leonard was a beautiful, wonderful person. We went to the viewing, and as I went up to look at his body, it just washed over me how much he was going to be missed. The funeral the next day, though, was thought provoking for me. The pastor talked about how if we were saved, we would see Leonard again. And it hit me that Leonard is in Heaven with my own grandma and grandpa. He is rejoicing with them. When I die, he is going to greet me at the gates with that old, familiar, loving hug around my neck that he gave me every time we saw each other. And we'll never have to part. Yes, there are so many regrets; I just wish that I would have taken the time out of my day to just go and see them. Maybe it takes these things to wake us up, though, to what is really important in life. Maybe it takes losing someone you really love and care about to just wake up and smell the roses as they say. Leonard was 84 years old, and as the pastor at the funeral said, "If only there were more Leonards in the world, the world would be a much better place." That is so true; I can only hope my life has as much meaning as his life did to so many people who mourn his loss, but rejoice that someday we will see him again.