For Granted.

This past weekend a father in my town, took the life of his wife and his two children, before turning the gun on himself.

All four were found after a call to police was made oh behalf of a welfare check because he hadn't show up for his shift, ironically, as a police officer.

His two sons, 10 and 12, were the same age as my daughters.

One of my daughters knew one of the boys.

It just got me thinking, what the hell.

Although I didn't know them, from every article I have come across, from the outside this was an ALL American family.

Mom was a school teacher, who also taught religion classes.

The boys played Little League and were Boy Scouts.

In every article I have read, NO ONE saw this coming.

The neighbors who were interviewed sang praises about this young family.

Warmly reporting that they were lovely people.

But it serves to remind me of two things:

One, you never know what goes on behind the closed doors of homes and inside of families...

Not everything we are presented with is what we may think it is, as loosely as C. Vanderbilt said,' not all that glitters is gold'.

And two, never take your life, or the lives around you for granted, please believe me when I say that there is no hole you can fall into, that isn't worth getting out of.

Life can be bitter, bad, and awful, but life can be magnificent and beautiful too.

I think of the saying, flowers need rain to grow.

But I also want you to remember these showers aren't permanent, but ones serve to help you bloom.

Don't forget perspective, sometimes we need to be reminded that we get to choose the lens we see our circumstances through.

It's OK to be sad, but know this too shall pass, and perhaps that sadness is aiding in our growth.

So value your relationships.

All of them, you never know what someone is going through.

So I ask you to go now, and give your loved ones, your kids, your friends, and family a call; better yet a big hug.

Check in, because life can be way too short, and after this weekend I am humbled at how short it can be for some.

And please say a little prayer for those two young boys and their mother who didn't get to choose the lenses as to how they got to see life.

Big hugs to all of you.

Xoxo,

C.