"Death and life. And death and life. Right next door to each other! There's like, there's a hair between them. "
That is a quote from one of my favorite movies, "Elizabethtown". Two guys are in a hotel room hallway, where a party is taking place. They literally run into each other and after they introduce themselves, we learn one of them is about to get married and the other is about to bury his father.
Death and life. And life and death.
My husband and I use this quote often because there are many instances where this happens throughout our journey. One door opens and another closes. One chapter ends and another begins. But this quote was in full effect a few weeks ago when in the span of ten minutes my joy turned to tears.
I was lying in bed at the home of some friends in Houston, Texas. My husband and I travelled there for a quick Memorial Day weekend getaway. Because of the hour time difference, I was up a little earlier than usual and, of course, had to catch up on my social media. Scrolling through the posts I learned my son's best high school friend gave birth to her first child. The little one was not due until June but decided to arrive a few days early.
The post filled me with joy as I learned, in the course of a few hours, a couple became a family. A mom became a grandma. Brothers became uncles. We had just attended the baby shower and it was such a lovely day of joy and anxious anticipation. No one knew if it would be a boy or a girl. The post announced that a boy had entered the world and "he is perfect!"
I nudged my sleepy husband, and I told him the news. He smiled and said, "Yay!" I told him he would have said that if it was a girl too. He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. I decided to crawl back under the covers and see what else was going on in Facebook land. There were tons of wonderful graduation pictures and the usual tons of ads but then I saw a post that stopped me in my tracks. "How do you say goodbye to your hero?"
These words were written by a schoolmate of mine about his dad who had passed away just hours before. I was instantly brought to tears. I ran into this friend just the week before at a local ice cream store. I hadn't seen him in over a year at least. Our families had been going to the same church and we would see each other there. My dad and his dad went to high school together and then, as their families grew, us kids ended up going to Catholic school together. Our families have known each other for a long time.
Recently, my dad was talking about his friend, Joe, and told me he really wanted to go visit him. I told him he should but since our families had lost touch I really didn't know if he was up to having a visitor that wasn't a close relative. Joe had been placed in hospice and we hadn't seen him in a long time. A few days after this conversation with my dad, I ran into Joe's son. I didn't think it was random. I felt it was for a reason. He said his dad would love a visit and told me to encourage my dad to go.
My dad didn't waste any time. After I gave him the room information he went to see Joe the next day. In the evening, I got a call from my dad to give me the recap of the visit. He said it was great and the two had a wonderful time catching up on the kids and grandkids.
Joe's hearing wasn't the best, but he had a device that would translate what my dad would say and print it out on a screen. It helped facilitate the conversation and no one missed a beat. Joe said that he liked to pass the time by reading mystery books and my dad said he would bring him some new books the next time he stopped.
Within one week Joe passed away. It seems to me God was working behind the scenes to get these old friends together before it was too late. I know my dad would have deeply regretted not seeing Joe before he died. I am overwhelmed by how a random meeting at an ice cream store was not so random after all. I am humbled by my small role in the last days of Joe's life.
Death and life and life and death. These events unite us throughout our journey on Earth. And sometimes these events bring us together in ways we cannot predict.
*My blog is featured in The Valley Mirror each week in the On My Mind column. The Valley Mirror Newspaper covers the Steel Valley and Woodland Hills communities.
