Life Beyond the Next Door

'It's hard to believe that life is still going on ...' I remember the moment when Mom lifted her head out of the drama that had enveloped our family after Dad had his last heart attack.

That next morning, I had to make arrangements for the life that was going on in my absence outside of those hospital doors. Our world had become very small in those hours. But life was going on without us ...

I visited with a good friend last week. She has so much going on in her world but she had arranged for My Youngest and her nephews to have a visit and a sleep over at her house. The kids had a ball and my friend and I had a nice, leisurely visit that afternoon. I picked up My Youngest the next day and went on to live my regularly scheduled life.

I look at the mundane little things that I've thought and written since then. The trivial little worries that sit in the back of my mind. I think of the 'stuff' that takes up space in my brain. It's all small stuff. No matter how much it may consume my thinking ... it's small stuff.

Since I parted ways with my friend on the day I picked up My Youngest, her life has been turned upside down and back again.

The health of my friend's parents has been very fragile this past long while. They take things one day at a time because that is simply all they can do. But the past five days have been more worrisome than most ...

As life hangs in the balance for my friend and her family, the world outside of their doors continues to move on.

If only those of us who have been wrapped up in our own little worries had a peek inside of that door, our lives would come crashing into perspective.

It is the small and precious moments in life that matter.

The smile and hug of a loved one that you thought may be lost to you ... we must cherish every moment while we have it. We just never know what lies beyond that next door.