I, like so many of you, found myself heartbroken yesterday while watching the news about Kobe Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash.  It felt surreal when I first heard.  Then, as the day progressed, more horrendous information would surface as we learned eight others perished along with him, one being his 13 year old daughter.  13.  The second her age was reported I felt the trigger of my own past trauma.  I have found that is common with parents who have lost children.  When we hear of another child the same age as our own child that has died, it resonates a little deeper.  Later in the day, news outlets released the names of the other seven victims, of which two more turned out to be 13 year old girls.

We can debate all day about whether or not Kobe Bryant’s death should be as sensationalized as it is when you consider people die every day and their names go unspoken and their stories, unnoticed.  Where I see the point people are trying to make in that argument, you can’t dismiss the fact that Kobe was a professional athlete and his celebrity-status made him a household name on all parts of the globe.  He was a philanthropist who founded a charitable organization to help homeless youth in LA, was a 20 year veteran of the Make-A-Wish foundation, donated $5 million yuan to launch the Kobe Bryant China Fund, was a spokesperson for Aid Still Required for the war in Darfur, and more.  I would encourage you to look up his “off the court” accomplishments for yourself and then make up your mind on whether the world is justified or not in mourning him on this level.

Regardless, nine people walked out of their homes yesterday morning in California not knowing it was for the last time.  I flashback more times than I care to remember to Dalton walking out of our house for the very last time.  “I just came back to get some gloves for Tyler.”  I hear his voice and see his facial expressions in my mind as I recount it.  Then I wonder what those nine people’s last thoughts might have been as they left their own homes to catch their flight. My mind goes to Kobe’s wife.  I can’t help it.  She will never forget the last time she saw her husband or her daughter for the final time and neither will family members of the other victims.  Right now for some reason she is the one most on my mind.  Here is a woman who stood by her husband’s side through a very difficult time nearly two decades back.  Here is a woman who supported and loved a man through life’s challenges, building a life with him and their four children rooted in their Catholic faith. And here is a woman now making funeral preparations at a time she never expected it.  I wondered if her first night without them went anything like mine.  After falling asleep in sheer exhaustion that first night after Dalton died, I would wake up every couple hours and remember instantly that it wasn’t in fact a bad dream.  The hysteria would repeat itself followed by more broken sleep.  However, unlike me, there would be no spouse for her to cling to.

Death.  It can come like a thief in the night.  If this isn’t a call to tell someone in your life that you love them, I don’t know what is.  Luckily for us, we told each other that alot.  I thank God for that and all of the time we didn’t waste as a family.  The whole “life is so short” phrase sounds so cliché until it’s your life that is cut short and robbed of its length of days.  I am happy most of you do not know what it feels like to go on living without one of your children.  And, to you, you will never know the depth of this pain unless it too becomes your reality.   Make amends now.  Don’t waste precious time that you aren’t guaranteed anyway.  Set aside your pride and rectify whatever is wrong in your life.  You will never look back and say you wished you hadn’t forgiven a person who trespassed against you or loved a person who didn’t deserve your love.  We all fall short of God’s design for our lives in some way or another, but by His grace and mercy we are redeemed.  Let that be the model for how we treat others.

Nine people walked out of their homes for the last time yesterday morning.  But, God willing, nine people walked into paradise hours later.  Like you, I received the news about Kobe Bryant specifically and immediately thought of what the world lost.  It wasn’t until the evening hours that a new idea entered my mind.  Consider all of his fans that have already left this world and are experiencing eternal life right now – whether that be your parent, spouse, sibling, child, etc – now imagine, if you will, that triumphal entry into heaven yesterday.  Picture the rows upon rows of his faithful fans lining that procession into God’s dwelling place.  People standing there with glorious grins on their faces and hands outstretched to give him high five’s as he walks in bearing that million dollar Kobe Bryant smile with his daughter GiGi at his side.  I imagine it exceeded any pre-game experience ever held at Staples Center.  Then, somewhere towards the end of the line, I think of a brown-haired, cocky grinning 13 year old boy who high five’s The Mamba, goes in for a “bro hug,” then turns his attention to a curly-haired beauty, winks and says, “Hey, I’m DD.  Let me show you around.”