“My whole life is in that house.” That’s what Madonna Badger screamed on Christmas morning as her Connecticut house burned to the ground with her three children and her parents still trapped inside. On December 25, 2011, Ms. Badger lost her past and her legacy.
In an instant, everything for her changed.
I am humbled when I think about how the permanence our everyday life can be so transient and how ordinary life is what keeps us afloat. We all complain about the everyday. Too many dishes in the sink. Running late for a business meeting or an evening dinner with friends. Traffic. Deadlines. Children crying. We all think we are on the edge with the mundane, but the glory is in those quotidian details.
In an instant, for every one of us, what we may take for granted, can change.
Fill yourself up with all the quiet details in your life. A cup of coffee. The morning commute. The rattling of old pipes or creaky walls in your house. The cries of your five year old’s nightmare in the middle of the night. The sometimes inconveniences of everyday life. They are details to be embraced.
In an instant. It can all change.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh Rudri. This is a beautiful and timely reminder. Thank you for this.
Nice reminder, Rudri. Every day we need to have gratitude in our heart. Xoxo
ayala recently posted..Happy Holidays
We can’t take anything here with us when we leave. So true to be grateful for the quiet moments and for the people while we have them here.
Nikole Hahn recently posted..Praise and Coffee Link-Up: Sue Cramer
I love your insightful posts. They always ground you back to what really matters. We have to be so greatful for what we have. It’s hard to always remember that.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder, Rudri.
SuziCate recently posted..A Merry Christmas And A Blessed Season To You!
Rudri,
This story inspired me to read two stories to my boys tonight and to be grateful to do so. I pray for this woman to find some comfort and strength in time.
This poor woman, how horrible. There really is so much to be grateful about. Why is it so hard sometimes?
Judy recently posted..HO HO HO
That story is tragic and heartbreaking. I can’t even imagine. You’re completely right — we have to embrace what we have while we have it.
Kelly recently posted..Eleven
It really is about appreciation of the “extraordinary ordinary.” Why does it take the shadow of loss to remind us, all too often?
BigLittleWolf recently posted..Cranky
Poignant and heartbreaking.
C @ Kid Things recently posted..The Yearly Wrap-Up