My heart is sad today. In fact, it has been all weekend, and I'm not talking about my short bus ACADEC trip. Someone incredible passed away on Friday night, and I'm struggling with the unfairness of it all. Because when it comes right down to it, it's not right that someone kind and caring, with a beautiful family, leaves this world, while the unsavory and cruel are left. The trade-off astonishes me and I regret to admit that I wish there were someone who could have taken his place.
I'm struggling to put into words the intense loss that I feel and the depth of sadness I possess for the family of one of my dearest friends. When I think about Donald White, I remember an incredible husband and father, someone who showed love and compassion to every person he came across. He always had caring words for me when I saw him, and he encouraged me during one of the lowest times of my life. Not only that, but he drove a paper route in Brook Hollow, and kept a lookout for me and my running friends in the mornings, often praying for us while he worked. I felt safer knowing that he was there, and honored that he would take the time and energy to watch out for me. I think I looked at Donald a bit like a replacement Dad, and my heart is breaking for his kids right now because I KNOW the hole that exists from that piece of them ripped away when he passed.
So I'm upset today. A little weepy, to be honest. Trusting God and asking him to fill the empty places in the lives Donald touched. Asking God to help me show the same compassion, forgiveness, and love to others that I learned by watching him. And I'm grateful that I was so privileged as to know him and be changed by the life that he lived.
I will never forget his smile. He always had one and it was always genuine.
ReplyDeleteThis was beautifully written, kate. And it was all so true.