Tomorrow Never Knows

Things happen quickly, turn on a dime, change in an instant and there is really nothing anyone can do about it. It is always amazing to be blindsided with the realities of life - a stroke occurring in a 38 year old man? What the...?

Tomorrow never knows. Yet, there are truths too. Truths that never change.

My family is bound tightly - we act and react together to all the news. We pray together, we comfort each other and we love. We love. The crisis we are facing does not change how we treat each other or strangers. We're still smart alecks, still compassionate, still polite and generous. We can find humor in any situation, and the tears of laughter are often mingled with our love and anxiety of being blindsided.

Paige knows I am up in Buffalo taking care of my brother, and pulling my weight in supporting the family. She said, "It's what we do, right Mommy?" Yes, it's what we do. Reality and truth in that one simple statement.

Another truth is the presence of God in our lives. It's how we know to do what we do.

Right now I am sitting in the hospital listening to my two older brothers discuss the prognosis of the youngest brother. The conversations change within seconds - so far we've discussed the goofiness of Jeff and how he can charm a lion (and make it laugh uproariously [pun intended]), how the friends of this family are amazing - simply amazing people -, how our parents prepared us for this, and then we fall into the one-liners that make us spit coffee across the room.

We are blessed. I hate to dispute the words of my best friend Bruce who says "tomorrow never knows" but I have to. Tomorrow knows. Some things never change. Thank God for that.