Life is Short

A friend from high school passed away today. We weren't best-ies, but we sure spent a lot of time laughing together during the days we spent together. I don't know all the details of her passing yet. She had a terrible bike accident earlier in 2012 that left her paralyzed, so I imagine it was something related to that, but it just seems strange that she's gone. I was just stalking Facebook to try to figure out what happened, and there were many regrets from others posted on her page, and then below all that, just yesterday, she posted as her status,

"The puppy's already had 3 accidents this morning in the house. The worst part, I dropped my phone in one of her puddles. Yuck. Luckily it landed face-up, so just the case got wet."

Yesterday she was worried about house training her puppy, and today she's gone. So odd. She has two little kids, and prior to her accident she competed in marathons and triathlons. She is a lil' Miss Sassafras, full of life and laughter. It's hard not to see a lot of myself in her. I cannot begin to imagine what it might be like to be looking down from heaven, watching my little babies growing up in the arms of others. My little guys sure drive me bonkers much of the time, but I'm glad to be here in the midst of it. I'll leave the guardian angel thing to my grandma.

This last General Conference, one of the talks that touched me the most was "Of Regrets and Resolutions", by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I have read it a few times and it has come to my mind on several occasions  Today was one of those. Over the holidays, I quizzed my family about what their resolutions might be for the year. I have had a few in mind, but haven't committed to anything yet. In President Uchtdorf's talk, he goes over the regrets that many people that are close to death have had. They are

• I wish I has spent more time with the people that I love

• I wish I had lived up to my potential

• I wish I had let myself be happier

I think living each day like it is my last might be too exhausting for me to keep up with, but I can do better than I am. I think these three things will find their way into my resolutions in some form for this year. God bless my friend and her family and God bless us all in 2013 and every year of our lives thereafter.