In Memory

I would like to devote today's blog to a young man who went to see his Heavenly Father a little earlier than many would have liked. His name is Brian Howard and he is the son of one of my very best friends. He died 4 years ago today, a day that many will never forget. I have learned firsthand the emotions that come from losing a child by being with my friend and her family through this time. I saw what a mother goes through when she loses her child early in life. I saw what it is like to become a member of the club that people say you never want to be a member of- the club of parents who have lost a child.
Brian was a handsome young man. He was a guy who always took care of what he looked like, who acted more mature than his years, who loved his siblings. I will always remember sitting in his house with his mother and hearing their talks, witnessing the love they had for each other.
One of the fabulous things that God gives us, is the gift of salvation. My friend rests in the comfort of seeing her son again one day. She rests in the comfort that he is being well taken care of and loved. She can't wait until the day she can see him again.
So, until that day, she (and the rest of us who knew him) keep him in our memories. Brian is only dead physically. He is alive to us in our hearts and alive spiritually in heaven. How comforting is that to someone who has lost a loved one? Only those who trust in salvation and have lost a loved one can understand that! I can't imagine what those who don't believe in God go through when they lose a loved one- there is no hope, none! How absolutely heartbreaking!