Joy and Sorrow

Early in 2006, my friend, Kim, moved away when her husband got a great job out of town. She was one of my closest friends, and it was so very sad to see them go. This week, Kim and her son came to see us. We had a great time chatting the day away on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, I invited as many friends from our old Sunday school class as I could get hold of, and we had 8 moms and 16 kids in our house. It was so great. Most of the kids were babies when we used to get together, and five of those kids weren't even born yet. Even though we haven't moved out of town, we moved our church membership shortly after Kim and her family moved away, so I hadn't seen many of these friends in a long time either. Getting caught up with old friends is always so much fun.

Then Thursday afternoon, after the dust had settled, and everyone had left, I got an e-mail from my sister-in-law, my husband's sister. Her best friend since childhood was widowed yesterday. They found her husband shot in his car outside the shooting range where he worked his second job. They don't know if it was an accident, suicide or murder. I'm sure they'll do everything they can to find out what happened. He was less than 30, I'm not sure exactly how old. His widow is only 28. They were married 4 years and have no children. My husband's family and this family that has lost their son-in-law have been intimately connected since the early 80's. The dads were best friends, the moms still are best friends and the daughters are best friends. They don't have a son anywhere near my husband's age, or else they'd probably be best friends too.

This young couple sat with us in the hospital last January when my father-in-law was dying. No one would have guessed that this young man would be the next one (of us sitting there) to go to heaven.

For my sister-in-law, her mom and best friend were widowed in the same year. Something about that doesn't seem right.

But who am I to say what's right?

12:16 PM Edit: Officials are saying the death was a suicide. I hope they're wrong.