"My dad died"

Ten days ago on Friday night mom was in bed, nearly asleep, expecting to work the next day. I was reading in the family room. The phone rang about 11:20 pm. A few minutes later I walked into the bedroom, wondering who called. Mom said, "my dad died". It was hard to imagine that he died without notice. Just like that he was gone. The nursing home had called many other times when he had experienced some type of health issue--but not this time. The call was merely to tell mom that Don had passed in his sleep. For me, it was profound. How quickly things can change. As a missionary in Nampa Idaho, I knew a man named Roger Kotter. He was a fiery, great man, with the looks of Elder Eyring. He was a stake missionary, so I spent many evenings with him. His memorable angst was always the lax attitude that people had about life, "it's as if they have a contract on life--like they'll live forever." Well, we don't have a contract on life. Life can change quickly--for the better or worse. Let's treat today like it's a precious gift. Let's not expect that the gift of tomorrow will always be there. It most certainly will not. Dad