{To love is to live}

Today I realized how special and fragile life is. You never  know when your life could end or when it might  come close.

You should live everyday as if it were your last.

Today I went to the temple with Bubba. It was a hard realization that I hadn't been there in QUITE a while when I forgot where everything was or even what I was supposed to do. But I re-learned quickly.
As soon as a came out of the dressing room, I saw him. So cute. He was just sitting there, in the midst of people he didn't know, but it was so.. Oh I don't even know the word to describe it. It was... I'll use a phrase of my mom's "it made my heart smile"  because my best friend is a worthy priesthood holder who honors his priesthood and is choosing to be at the temple.

Later we went to my house to grab my homework so we could take it back to his house and work on homework together. Driving back to his house we passed the street where his sister lived. ((A little back story. Recently her husband was diagnosed with blood clots in his brain, and he had a stroke one week previous)) Anyway, we drive passed that street and we see flashing lights. "Oh I wonder what's going on down there.."

 Then it hit both of us. Bubba said out loud the words my mouth couldn't seem to form "It's Robert."
My heart stopped. I was so scared I couldn't breathe. We quickly drove to the house, parked on the driveway and bolted inside.

We walked in and immediately you could feel the tenseness and the terror of the situation.

Bubba's sister was crying upstairs.
Bubba's mom was standing on the stairs unsure what to do.
You could hear but could not see the commotion going  on upstairs.

And then the five adorable but terribly afraid kids flocked to me and Bubba.

One in particular, wrenched my heart. Keiko. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She didn't say a word to me. She just buried her face into my stomach and hugged me. She looked up at me with hope in those beautiful eyes as if to ask for calm from the chaos in her life. And I just hugged her tighter.

My heart went out to this girl because I saw me in her. I remember when I was little when the ambulance used to come to MY house to get MY dad. I didn't know whether he would live or not. The lights outside my house were mortifying and I used to have nightmares about them. Still to this day I look out the window when I hear sirens to check if its for my house, just from habit. And I just remember feeling alone. Wanting someone to tell me it would be ok.

I guess my motherly instincts kicked in because I looked into those scared little yes and loved her as if she were my own. I wiped those tear streaked cheeks and then led her to the couch where I was coaxing her while she was cuddled up to me. I asked her what happened and if she was ok. She managed to choke out a few words in between the sobs but I knew this sweet little angel was still so scared. I spoke softly to her telling her things will be ok and that I was there for her. She snuggled in closer and squeezed my hand tighter.

As I was sitting there calming this sweet girl I realized something..
We are privileged everyday to live the lives we do. At any moment we could die and our life would be over in an instant. Would we be missed? Would we have any regrets?

Live every day as if it were your last that way you'll never have any regrets. Take some time from your busy life to tell the ones you love that you love them. Don't forget the people that love you the most. Keiko reminded me one of the essentials in this life.. To Love.

 The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.