Other 7

Last Sunday I got out of the bed for the first time in 3 days. I had been so very sick with the flu but I needed to make sure my boys had food for lunch boxes the next week and I was out of cough medicine. Did you know you have to be 18 to purchase cough meds? Me either, until last week.  I did my online grocery order and had Rosebro2 take me to Walmart to pick up my groceries. While out, we stopped by CVS for a second round of cough meds and then because I wanted it, we stopped at Sonic for my favorite drink- diet cherry limeade. While waiting in the drive through for my drink and his slushy, Rosebro2 was looking at his phone and got a horrific look on his face. I knew immediately his heart was hurt. He told me that ESPN was reporting that Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash.

My boys love Kobe. Not a day goes by in our house that someone doesn’t throw something at the trash, to each other, in a book bag, or to the dog without yelling “Kobe”.  Rosebro2 really liked him. As we traveled home in mostly silence, I thought about Kobe’s wife and his kids. As someone who has lost both parents and my husband, all rather unexpectedly, my heart hurt for Kobe’s wife and kids. As the hours passed by on Sunday, it was discovered that Kobe had his daughter with him. Again my mind raced to Kobe’s wife and my heart hurt again for this women I’ll never know.

As I watched the news coverage last week about this amazing athlete’s death along with his little girl, I was saddened at the coverage of the “7 others” who were killed. I am not sure why, but I felt the need to discover who these 7 others were. One assistant coach, who coached ,alongside Kobe Bryant, young girls in their love of basketball.  She left home that day her husband and three little ones at home. There was a mom and daughter, also a team member, who left behind a husband and dad. There was the pilot who I really can’t find much information about. Then there was a Dad, Mom, and their daughter. The Dad was a college baseball coach. I prayed when I first read about them that this was their only daughter. But it wasn’t to be. They had an adult son and a teenage daughter. I prayed for that daughter. I worried about how she found out and if she was alone and how long she was alone until someone came to her.

I’m not sure why I entangled myself into the stories of Kobe Bryant, his daughter GiGi, and “the 7 others” killed in this crash. Maybe it is because I’m still grieving the loss of my parents and my husband. I grieve every single day. Maybe it’s because a giant like Kobe Bryant isn’t supposed to die at such a young age and surely his daughter at 13 isn’t supposed to die. Just maybe it is another reminder of how very short life can be and that we should make the most of every moment. Maybe because of everything I’ve been through, I wonder about when my time will be. I am so thankful to have lived 46 years. I know that many haven’t. I’m glad to have found the love of my life and had two amazing children with him. I am super excited to watch as one heads to college in the fall and the other figures out the awkward teenage years. I pray that I make it old enough to see them fall in love, get married, and have babies of their own.

And then I think about what will happen next? Will I be remembered? Have I made a difference in this world? Have I made an impact on anyone, anything, or any system? So as I ponder “the other 7” I pause and reflect on what it is I’ve done and what I can do.

Then at the end of the week a 1^st grade student came and read to me. His story was simple. His confidence was not. I may never fill stadiums and people may never pay to see me, but for a small moment of time, I was a legend to one child. And I can never ask for anything more.