A suspect selection process

November 2^nd has come and gone.  That marks another anniversary that I would rather not celebrate, a milestone that I am not eager to check off.  A day I would rather skip all together.

Each year as the date approaches I am filled with memories and flashbacks of that morning 4 years ago.  I remember the phone call from one of my mom’s employees saying only “I think you should come here”.  I try hard to remember where my mind wandered in the very few minutes it took me to get the two blocks from the bank to her store.  I think I was prepared to hear that my grandmother had passed, that it was Grannie’s time to go and join my grandfather in heaven.  But alas that was not the case, the message that I received on that Tuesday morning was something that I could have never imagined or prepared for.

2014 has been filled with losses for families in our small community.  There were losses of men that, similar to my dad, are gone too soon.  They leave behind families that mourn for the void that is now left.  And they also leave behind questions of why him, why now?  My heart aches for those families knowing all too well the emotions that they are dealing with.  They are going through that challenging year of firsts without him.

Just last month at a wake service for one of these men I had a nice big hug from one of my dad’s great friends.  In the past 4 years he lost a friend and a brother in unexpected and tragic ways.  And while the two of us stood in the back of church he put it perfectly when he said “The selection process is a bit suspect.”  He referenced a question that so many of us have.  Why does God have to take the good ones so early?  These men had spent their life working hard and providing for their families, and they were just beginning to dream of how their next chapter would be spent: spoiling grandchildren, traveling, and enjoying a life with no schedules.   And why do people like my 96 year old Grannie remain here on earth when she would give anything to stop suffering and join her husband in heaven.

Unfortunately it is a question that I can’t answer.  I know that God has a plan and while we question it, I am reminded that he has a higher purpose for all of these life events.  And I just need to continue remind myself of that.

So another November 2^nd has passed.  If Dad were here he would have had a pretty spectacular day, enjoying the fall crisp air that brought him relief from his allergies, he would have traveled to Omaha to watch his grandsons battle it out on the football field, all ingredients in a near perfect day for my Dad.  Without him, but in his memory, we spent the morning at church, the afternoon brought a visit to the apple orchard, and the evening was spent together as a family enjoying warm apple pie and wearing slippers because Poppy loved his slippers.

We miss you Poppy!