Very Happy And Yet Very Sad

I will be resuming the previous discussion about Activism tomorrow, as I apologize for the brief departure over the last few days.

It has been a very rough week for me personally as life and death, excitement and pain, have all closely hovered around my daily existence. Two family members had unexpected surgery this past week, one of them being my 86 year old Grandpa. He suffers from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, and hasn’t been doing well. The doctors said that it was risky to even let him have surgery because they weren’t sure if he would wake up from the anesthesia. But if they didn’t perform the surgery, he most likely would have suffered enormous pain, ultimately leading to his death. But by God willing him through the anesthesia, he woke up. Though the following night the drainage tube from his back clogged in the middle of the night, and the nurses found him in a pool of his own blood in the morning. They rushed him down to the emergency room and praise God that he was able to regain consciousness. He is in a rehab facility right now, so please pray for the Lord’s comfort throughout all of his pain and uncertainty. This is very difficult for me to talk about because my Grandpa was an extremely integral part of my life—he was involved in absolutely everything I did. I have a very small, very close family, each of which had an important hand in raising me to be the man I am today. It’s impossible for me to ever understate the huge part my Grandpa has played in my life. This journey over the last few years has been very difficult—and this past week was the closest to him dying that any of us have seen.

Also, today is October 17^th, the 12 year anniversary of one of my best friends getting killed by a drunk driver when we were 16 years old. Minding her own business, Alli was hit by a drunk driver going 90 mph, blowing a red light and sending her, and her car flying over 100 ft. Alli, along with 3 others were killed. The drunk driver was the only person to survive. It still stings all these years later, as Alli has never, and will never leave my mind.

But also today, on the 12 year anniversary of Alli’s death, on the day that the rest of my family gets to officially visit with my Grandpa for the first time, I have the humbled honor to officiate a wedding for two of my best friends—Joe and Meg. Weddings are always an exciting time, a time of new life being brought together before God. This is the third, and final wedding I will ever do. I only officiate weddings for my best friends, and these are my only remaining best friends yet to be married. It’s a special honor, but mixed in with the difficult closeness and remembrance of death over the past week, it’s been hard for me to feel emotionally balanced.

However, my Grandpa is still alive, Alli is still in my heart, and I am looking forward to uniting some of my best friends to each other.

Thanks for hanging in there with me these past few days.

Much love.