Cherish every moment

Cherish every moment of life. Hug your kids, hug your spouse, hug your family members, hug your friends . . . and love the bloomin' heck out of them.

I lost one of my very best friends last night. She was only 41 years old. She and I had been friends for more than half our lives. I already miss her terribly.

On Friday she started feeling like something was terribly wrong -- she thought she was having a stroke. They called 911, and while in the ambulance en route to the hospital, she suffered a seizure. That was followed by more seizures. Soon after arriving at the hospital she went into cardiac arrest (twice). Although they were able to revive her each time, her other organs failed. All this happened quickly and I arrived at the hospital to find my dear friend on life support and in a coma. I spent most of the weekend at the hospital standing vigil with the rest of her family and friends. It was horrible and tragic and devastating and, and, and . . . you can imagine.

Sadly, modern medicine couldn't fix what was broken. But at least she passed away quietly and peacefully and didn't seem to be in any pain. I'm so sad that I didn't get to say goodbye to her while she was conscious, but I'm very grateful that I got to be there with her during her last hours on earth.

And I am BEYOND grateful that I had her in my life for 22 years. She was a true gift. But right now my heart is a little broken.

Her husband, parents, sister and other relatives are obviously beyond devastated. Nobody saw this coming.

The cause of what happened is still unknown, though hopefully the autopsy will provide some answers. One thing I don't need an autopsy to tell me is that she had a heart of gold. I've known that for a long time.

The MOST TRAGIC thing of all this is that she left behind three little boys (ages 7, 4 and 18 months). My heart breaks for those poor little children. Please keep them in your prayers and thoughts.

Now go hug your kids and tell them you love them. Go call that friend with whom you've been trying to make plans but haven't done so because you've both been too busy to set a date. Make plans now. Go tell your family and friends how much they mean to you. Cherish all the little moments in life.