Hold Them a Little Closer

I consider it a privilege to attend a funeral. To me, they are the most uplifting of meetings. The Spirit is so strong. I like to listen to what is being said about the person who has passed on, all of it good, and think about my life and what I want people to say about me at my funeral. It's like I go home and want to live up to all the good that was shared about the person. Trevor and I attended a funeral this morning, and it made me want to be better in a different way. Eden Ridgway passed away on Saturday. She was 4 months old. I've never met her parents. Trevor became friends with Eden's dad, Marcus, when they were in the same patrol at Wood Badge. Eden was born with Down Syndrome and also severe heart problems. She had open-heart surgery twice along with countless other procedures in her very short life. She never even left the hospital to go home with her family. Her parents started a blog to share her story, which I read everyday. It was an honor to attend her funeral and pay respects to a little girl and her family who I only know through their blog. Both of her parents spoke at the funeral. Their testimony was so touching, to say the least. Their bishop spoke of how fitting it was that she passed away so close to July 4th, Independence Day as she is now liberated and free from pain and suffering. There's really nothing to compare with feeling overwhelmed by your own trials and then witnessing the faith of someone who is going through something so much worse. I've heard it said that if we put all of our individual trials on a table and got to choose which ones we wanted to endure, we would end up choosing our own right back. I find this to be so true. My faith has been strengthened so much by my very remote connection to Eden and her family. Today I am going to be more patient with my own family and hold my children a little closer and be thankful for all of my blessings.