Capture Moments

Living gratefully today, I appreciate the connections I continue to make with others in so many different ways in these first days since my sister Mary Jo's death.

It is a bittersweet day for her daughter Rena, on this her 30th birthday, and for her husband Clay and many others as they mark the first anniversary of the motorcycle accident that killed his brother Jahn.
Such pain and loss.

Dead. Killed. So final. And yet, the sun came up again today. This photo I took this morning captured a moment that was never before and never will be again:

Just like there will never be another person just like Mary Jo, or Jahn, or any other loved one you and I are calling to our own minds and hearts. Yet, it is likely that all of us will wake up again tomorrow with the opportunity to capture moments of grace, goodness, and gratitude. 

At first thought, grief doesn't fit in the same sentence as grace, goodness, and gratitude.  On second thought though, with willingness and surrender, grief can actually lead to grace, goodness, and gratitude. 

I will need to read those words of mine again many times because sometimes the fear, anger,  and loss of grief will outweigh everything else. That is the nature of the grieving process. Moments of intense pain may fall within minutes or hours of intense grace. Pay attention. 

Capture the moments you can today. The sun will likely rise again on more opportunities tomorrow too.