Sad News…

A week or two ago another one of Dan’s friends from his work passed away. It was not work related. It was an accidental death though. His name was Lou. Dan and him would go out after work every time they were in the same place at the same time. Which could be every other day or once a year the way it works. Lou’s wife passed away a few month ago too. And Dan said they had 3 young children. Which makes it even more sad that the kids lost both parents so close together.

It really got to Dan and he was really sad about it. It made him think of all the people he has come to know since working for UP and how many people he has lost already. Dan is very blessed in that he has never had to deal with a death of someone close to him before. Most of his family member’s that have died, died before Dan was even born or when he was too young to understand.

He has dealt with my family’s death. Although he was not very close to the people in my family that died he saw what I went through. And everyone that died in my family it was a blessing. We knew it was coming for years before it did. And they were in such pain in the end. We were happy for them when they passed and knew they were in heaven and in no more pain.

But these last few death’s Dan has had to deal with were friends. Friends that had wives and children. Friends that were his age. And they were all out of the blue. None of them died from an ongoing sickness or anything. Well, actually one died of a diabetic coma. But Dan still thought that one was unexpected and hit him pretty hard too. Dan has lost quite a few friends in the 5 years he has worked at UP. And this last one has really hit him hard. Maybe because so many of them were just in 2007. But he can’t stop thinking about it and the families of those now gone. He has been almost a little depressed over the last few days.

I myself have never had to deal with this kind of situation either. I always knew it was coming and had time to say goodbye and prepare myself and deal. So it is hard for me to know right now the right way to handle things with Dan. I am there for him. I listen to his stories about what they would do when they hung out together. And mostly I am just there.

But I do pray that all these people are in a better place and that their families are dealing ok with it. And that everyone involved will be ok and find strength to get through. So I hope that everyone reading this tonight will think of these men and their families tonight and remember how truly grateful we are that we are with those we love.

In 2007 Dan and I celebrated a few births. Many weddings. And just as many funerals. I really hope 2008 will be a lot more happier.