Death.

I know the title of this post is slightly morbid, but it's what the post is about - so I figured I should title it appropriately.

Death comes to us all.  Sometimes we are ready for it and sometimes we are not.  Sometimes we have notice and sometimes we don't.  Sometimes it's terribly tragic and sometimes it's welcomed.

The death of my uncle was tragic.  It was unexpected.  It happened too fast.

He died at the young age of 18, a few months before his 19th birthday.  And it wasn't from cancer or a terminal disease - it was purely by chance, an accident, a tragedy.

I grew up knowing the tragedy of my uncle's death.  I grew up knowing that he had died at a young age.  I grew up knowing that his death had broken hearts.  How could it not right?  The death of a child whether expected or unexpected is such a tragedy.  I mean parent's aren't suppose to bury their children - they aren't suppose to outlive them.  But this isn't always the case now is it?

And as I type this, my heart breaks.  The thought of my own brother dying brings tears to my eyes.  The loss of his life.  The loss of dear a friend.  The loss of a future together.  The loss of his love and his laughter.  The loss of future generations - of my children knowing his.

My uncle's death is a reality - a reality my mom never asked for - a reality my mom never hoped she would ever experience.  And over the past few years, I have begun to ask questions about him.  What the day of his death was like?  What he was like?  Where he would be today?  What that loss has been like?  And just recently, I asked the big question of the day...where is he even buried?  I had never been to his grave site and neither had my mom.  I knew it had to be somwehre in Seattle, but when I heard the response I was slightly shocked and extremely taken aback.

See, Peter and I moved into our house the end of March, and we just happen to live extremely close to a funeral home.  Well guess who is buried on those grounds??  My uncle.  I run through those grounds. And each time I wonder...where exactly was this uncle laid to rest?

On October 12th, 2011 my Uncle Kenneth (Chris) Dabney Moores Jr. would have celebrated his 60th birthday!  So I figured it was high time to commemorate his death, and I finally got around to calling the funeral home to find out where his grave site was located.  And then I called my grandma to see if she would be interested in joining me - she said yes.  So off we went to the funeral home.  It took us a little bit longer than I had imagined to locate the site, and we didn't stay too long.  But my grandma was able to share a few things and remind me once again that she too was going to be buried in this location. It was a blessed time - one I will never ever forget.

Death comes to us all, but for some it comes a little sooner than others.  The loss, the grief is a reality, but the redemption, the forgiveness, the grace is such a beautiful surprise.

Be blessed.

My great-grandpa (Grandma's dad)

Uncle and Great-grandma (Grandma's mom)