Legacy

So that's sad. That Heath Ledger died today at the age of 28.

It's weird when you've just sat through a funeral service a few days ago for an 85-year-old woman who was an inspiration to so many and who loved her God with all her heart, soul and body. To sit in my grandmother's memorial service was to listen to a tribute to someone who loved much and touched many. Someone who lived a long, faithful life.

It is an unfair contrast to a movie star, dead before the age of 30. And in sad contrast to the woman who drowned this weekend in Lake Michigan at 27 years of age. Why do we assume that we will all live to be 85 years old? We just can't quite take it in when someone younger dies, when we hear that someone has been "robbed" of a full life. My coworker was talking yesterday about a family acquaintance whose child died at 5 years old of cancer. How old is old enough? We live in such a broken world. How do we deal with that?

My grandmother lived 85 years, and with the exception of the Alzheimer's that robbed her of her ability to recognize and speak to those she loved in her final years, she lived a wonderful life. May we all be so blessed. But, just in case we don't have those 85 years, it's always best to remember that we could be gone tomorrow. It's hard to think of ourselves as mortal, but I find great comfort in the fact that I am a child of the Immortal One. And I hope upon hope that when I leave this mortal coil, people will say "she lived a life of faith, love, and laughter." That was my grandmother's legacy, and I hope, someday, that it will be my own.