Troubling news...

I know I haven't posted in awhile, and I didn't mean for my return post to be so depressing, but I really feel like I need to post about this for the sake of being able to mentally process it better.

I received a phone call from my mom early this morning telling me that a young man that I'd gone to high school and church with had been killed over the weekend. We weren't great friends, I actually thought he was kind of a jerk in high school, and though I hadn't seen him in several years, I knew he'd grown to be a real stand-up guy, a proud member of the Navy, and a great father.

I guess I'm troubled by this news mostly because it's brought the issue of my own mortality up to the front of my mind. I've been saddened by the recent celebrity deaths, as well as the recent deaths in my family, but they haven't really effected me the same way. This young man was only a year or two older than me. Logically, I know, something could happen at any minute and I'd be gone (yes, I know, a morbid thought, but it's true), but that's always a thought that's off in the back of my subconscious, not right up at the forefront of my mind. I honestly don't really know how to deal with this...while it doesn't directly effect me, I am very saddened for his family.

My heart goes out to his family and friends, and I hope they can find some peace in their time of grief.