When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Yesterday, Chris and I attended the Memorial Service of a woman we didn't personally know, but who touched the lives of many. Her name was Deana Weitzel, and she was a wife, mom, sister, daughter, co-worker, and friend. Her husband, Mike, was deployed with Chris to Iraq, just last year, and he came home at the same time as Chris, in early August. After his return, Mike and Deana went on a vacation to Paris. When they returned she went to her doctor because she wasn't feeling well and was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. She endured chemotherapy and tried some experimental treatments, and from what I've heard, she was responding to these treatments well. Just a few months after her diagnosis, she passed away, leaving her husband and two children, a daughter and son.

Yesterday, I was reminded of how fragile life is and how quickly the people we dearly love can be taken from us. This was the third funeral I've attended in the past six months, and the second for a 44-year-old who died of cancer, the first being, my Uncle Pat. As I sat in the Church listening to loved ones and friends reminisce about this wonderful woman, Deana, I found myself deeply touched. I thought about my own children and how hard it would be for me to leave them. I remembered how much I yearned for my husband to return from deployment and contemplated how challenging it would be to face a diagnosis, such as cancer, just when I was rejoicing his homecoming.

Last night I fell asleep knowing that I need to make more of an effort to tell my loved ones how much I truly love them, to call my friends more often to let them know that I'm thinking of them, to pray for those who are suffering and continue to pray for them when they are well, to enjoy the moments in life when I am able to spend time with my husband and children.

I pray for the entire Weitzel family. It is my hope that one day, when I leave this world, I will have left an imprint on the lives of others, as Deana obviously did. She was a shining star, who lit up many lives, and who will continue to do so from Heaven.