Watching the news

I was devastated last night as I watched the news. There is so much sadness in the world, it's not a completely rare occurrence for a soft soul like me to be moved. Having a newsman for a husband doesn't always help, for example his story last night concerning sex slaves in St. Louis. On a happier note, I do want to share that we were sitting in front of Qdoba with a sleeping toddler in the backseat while we listened to the live action launch on NPR. So exciting, and an end of one era as another begins.

The story that compels me to write this, and continues to haunt me this morning is the one about the man who fell to his death at a Rangers game while catching a ball that Josh Hamilton tossed into the stands. All this happened in front of the man's six year old son. He was alive when he left the ballpark, but had cardiac arrest all the way to the hospital and died.

There are so many life stories here; certainly the man and his son. Life is completely altered for that little boy, who now doesn't have a Daddy, as well as enduring watching him die. What makes it even more tragic in my eyes, is that they were having fun, without a worry, a man and his boy taking in a game. We all have these sweet occurrences throughout our lives, and we all take for granted that nothing tragic happens. I, for one, am not really in the habit of breathing a sigh of relief that nobody died when we all return in one piece from a walk, a visit to the Butterfly House, or the swimming pool. I'm grateful we enjoyed the event and time together, but there's not really an expectation of danger or death, so I don't thank God when we all return alive from these events. It's a lesson that it can all be over in an instant, and we should be grateful without crossing into anxiety or macabre-ness. It's also a lesson to treat the ones you love with, well, with love at ALL TIMES. All the time.

My heart goes out for Josh Hamilton, the player who flicked the ball into the stands. Just. Like. That. Chris reminded me this morning that Josh is the player that had addiction problems years ago, and he's sober now. He even has a book out called Beyond Belief. It is my sincere prayer that he will continue on his path of faith, sobriety, and healing. Hopefully he will know "beyond belief" that this was truly an accident and he did not cause it. I hope by writing this, a few more people will send out healing thoughts and prayers to all involved in this tragic event.