Everyone has those days on the calendar they wish they could skip. The days you try to hold back tears when the happiest of memories come to mind because those memories bring a sadness. It’s a whirl wind of emotions that tends to take your breath away.
Today is one of those days for me. 7 years ago I lost someone who was a HUGE part of my life.
10 years ago I was 17 sitting in a recruiters office thinking I had it all figured out. I made friends with a quiet 16 year old who was training with them a full year before he could have his parents sign for him to enlist. We became very close and our relationship grew tremendously while we were trying to figure out who we were and where we were going in this big world. From letters sent back and fourth while I was in South Carolina to him leaving for Georgia and both of us coming back home. Trips to the local amusement park, hockey games, the beach, late nights with groups of our friends and family events. We may have eventually grown apart but we still checked in from time to time with one another. It had only been a few weeks since I had talked to him and I had a hard time processing the news he was taken too soon. He was only 19 years old on his way to answer someone else’s call for help when he was in a car accident and called home.
I am now 27, married, and a mother but I will tell you the impression made on me by a person so young has stuck. It has helped mold me into the wife I am and I am striving to be, the mother I am, and the overall person I am today. It’s why I do not take people for granted and my family comes first. The lessons I had absolutely no idea I was learning all those years ago have come out later on in my life and I just grin and send up a silent prayer of gratitude for all those years ago and the time spent with Brandon.
Do not ever underestimate yourself because of your age or think you can’t make a difference for someone else because you haven’t “lived” life long enough. My greatest influence went to Heaven to make it a brighter place at just 19 and if you could see the amount of people he has brought together you’d be absolutely blown away.
In this day and age so many people walk around feeling they are less than, or not good enough, and question their purpose in the world. What you aren’t seeing is the person who needs you, the person you probably least suspect is going to be influenced by your presence – maybe not right now but one day it will all make sense. You deserve to live your life to the fullest, don’t take things so seriously, talk to someone when you need to or you’re feeling down. I know it isn’t always that easy but I promise it’s worth it. YOU are worth it. Today tell someone you love them, thank someone for being your rock, and hug your loved ones a bit tighter.
XO Chey
Chey's Corner 