precious

I love how Mary holds on to one of my fingers as we're walking down the street.
I love how she runs to hug Doug when he comes home from work.
I love how she looked at me the other day across the lunch table and said, "I love you, mommy."
I love how she stands at the front door and says goodbye to Doug every morning.
I love how my baby boy gets so excited when I peek my head over the side of his crib.

We met Toshi last year through mutual friends. We were introduced when we went to a wine festival on the Air Force base in March. His wife, Melody, and I eventually went off to the slot machines (my hidden vice) where I had my $20 burning a hole in my pocket. I walked away $16 richer and she won over $30. I remember laughing so hard with her while we kept winning and decided to cash out while we were ahead. I remember the other people in there glaring at us because they 1) didn't like us breaking their concentration being so loud (we were a bit tipsy), 2) didn't like the fact that we were winning and 3) couldn't wait for us to leave so they could grab our machine. We've been to their house for an Italian dinner party. We sat together at the Navy ball. We've seen them with their son and daughter at church. We were so happy to hear that his pending deployment to the middle east for 15 months was cancelled, but then learned it was due to high blood pressure that the doc's were having trouble getting under control. We didn't think too much about it when we heard they were going to send him to Hawaii to see a specialist. I saw his facebook post the other day that he was packing for his trip. Doug saw him last week. A friend of mine saw him yesterday laughing and joking. Today, he died. He was found unconscious. They think he had a massive heart attack. In an instent, he was gone.

This tragedy reminds me just how precious and short our lives really are. I take for granted that Doug will always be with me. I honestly don't know what I would do without him. I would be lost. So today, I will hug my husband just a little tighter, kiss him a little longer and remember to savor every minute we have together. Life is so very precious.