Remembering

Tonight marks the anniversary of my cousin, Ashley's, death. He was killed outside of a nightclub last year after a fight broke out. I have been thinking about him and my family a lot today. I know they are all struggling as they try to move forward with life.I was looking at his Facebook page earlier today. It shows what a good friend he was and how much he was loved by the number of people who still post messages to his wall, telling him stories of their life and remembering good times they had with him. I scrolled back through all the messages today, right up to the very last post that he made himself. It was on the day of his death, and he asked who was going to the concert that night. It would be just 7 hours after that post that he would die.
I scrolled back farther and stopped on a post that he made on December 19 of last year. He wrote: "Just witnessed ems and fire fighters loading 2 bodies in a ambulance. Kinda put things in perspective. Tell your family and friends you love them." I hope he took the time that day to do exactly what he said. I hope that he spent his last few days thinking about that day and living life to its fullest.

My family is holding a candlelight vigil tonight, and I wish I had been able to make the trip to East Texas to be a part of it. They are on my heart though, and I know they will get through this because they have each other.

Remember that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. We're not even guaranteed tonight. Love each other!