Precious Life

I found out about the sudden death of a distant relative yesterday. He was only a few years older than me. While I did not know him, it fills me with sadness. It drives home the message that life is short and so very fragile.

He was a man who was successful by society's standards, had a family and by all accounts was a good and caring soul. So how can someone like that just get off the treadmill at home, tell his daughter he is lying down for a bit cause he had a headache and then pass away in his sleep? I am sad for him, for his grieving family and friends, for the life he might have had. I wonder if he appreciated what he had. I wonder if he is at peace. I hope so. I hope that his loved ones find the strength to go on with their lives without him. I hope that they are able to remember the good he brought into their lives. I hope that I remember, as often as I can, that life is precious and short. I hope I can wake up every morning and be thankful to be alive for another day. I hope I remember.