A reminder

Not that we need any reminders of how precious and fragile life can be; still they come to us almost daily.

I just got an email from Tricia who had just talked to our next door neighbor Al in Cleveland Heights.

Al and Pam’s son Andre was in a serious one-car accident on Friday.  He’s in Metro Hospital in Cleveland with numerous broken bones, including neck and back, a head gash… not breathing on his own at this point, has had several surgeries.  They believe he probably fell asleep at the wheel – his car hit a tree.  They had to revive him.

Andre and my son Sean are the same age. They graduated from high school together. They were never close – but they were neighbors and friends.

I remember playing catch with them as children – tossing footballs and baseballs.

I remember birthday parties when they were little.

I remember walking home from church one day and finding Andre and Sean sitting on our steps using sticks to shoot at cars – they must have been four; neither Tricia and I nor Al and Pam allowed our sons to have toy guns, but they figured it out anyhow.

I remember when they broke one of our basement windows playing soccer. Pam’s father fixed it.

I remember their graduation. Laughing, dreaming, posing for pictures.

I remember talking to Andre about what he was doing and what Sean was doing when I would come home through the years.

I remember. And today I pray. And I ask you to do the same.

See you along the Trail.