loss

I always get a little bit introspective when things happen as they have in the past week... seemingly things that we have no control over and usually results in me wondering why someone was taken (in my thoughts) before their time.  My dear grandfather used to say that "Well, it was their time..." when someone died.  Uh, yes.  I would think to myself, of course it was their time, but was it really?  Was it a freak accident that was predestined to happen or was it something that just randomly happened?  I struggle with that because it seems that in the case of the last couple of things, well... was it their time?

I've scoured the internet in my usual fashion.  Of course, I spend way too much time here milling about from site to site reading news and searching for this and that.  The latest?  Dan Miller with WSMV Channel 4 who suffered an untimely heart attach while strolling on the street he grew up in Augusta, GA.  Every few moments I hear on Channel 4 buzzing in the background the same little piano notes playing and a few pictures or still video of Dan and I pause sadly and glance up.  I didn't know him, but you would think by the look on my face and the sad thoughts in my head that I did.  Yes, he was invited into our home many nights to report the news.  He's actually the one that I'd rather hear it from if I had to choose.  (If all the ladies besides Demetria didn't say "to-dyaaa" rather than "today."  It's one of those nails on a chalkboard thing!  LOL)

I didn't know he had a blog himself (really what he'd termed a "notebook" rather than a blog, and I don't blame him there!) that has been nice to read lately (two actually)... almost a way to humanize him more rather than casting the news aside, "Well who cares, I didn't know him..." but realizing that there are four children, a wife, friends, and more mourning his loss.  I do think that if I had my choice the way he went doesn't sound so bad...  He was walking with a close friend remembering the past on the street where he grew up.  Still, he was young.

It's definitely much better than the way that Kori and Olivia Bryant left the world on Friday.  I cannot imagine her terror prior to the F3 tornado hitting their home.  I hold onto my own son imagining and thinking now about the plans of the future during the next tornado warning.  I've been in several tornadoes in my life (near misses mostly) and one that missed me by just a tiny bit while I worked in a grocery story my senior year.  It completely demolished our little town...  a lot of things changed after that for me.  I have an immense amount of respect for the power of the tornado and sometimes find them so random in where they strike that I don't get that sense of terror when one is nearby... the odds are always in our favor.

A fund has been set up for the family.  Donations can be made to the John Bryant Family fund at any Bank of America branch.  I cannot imagine losing everything I own and my family in just a few moments.  He's definitely going to need a lot of prayer, help, and love to get through this tragedy.