A goodbye

I generally keep this blog very light. I like to tell funny stories, or talk about books or movies, or share restaurant tips or memories. Unfortunately, sometimes the real world interferes.

Lindsey McCoy passed away on Saturday. Lindsey was 25 years old. She was the sister of Dustin McCoy, a good friend of mine over the years. She was beautiful and vibrant and funny and so alive. I feel very much unequal to the task of trying to paint any kind of picture for anybody who didn’t know her. She was a very special young woman, and she beat cystic fibrosis for 25 years. I never even knew she had it.

It has been a very bittersweet last few days. My daughter is actually due today, and should be born anytime. I suppose it is only natural that the circle of human life takes away when it gives. I believe that God has a plan for all of us, and that when that plan seems uncertain or incomprehensible, we have to believe even more. I think of the worlds of a near death Johnny Cash, who when asked if he entertained religious doubt after his beloved wife’s death, said simply, “My arms are too short to box with God.” I think of the little girl I haven’t met yet, and how I hope and pray for her health and safety and happiness, and how I have to acknowledge that I can’t assure her of any of those things.

Life can be perilous and short. I hope that I, and you, and my unborn daughter, can find the strength and the faith to live our own lives in the shadow of our weaknesses and frailties as well as Lindsey McCoy did. It’s a great task, but I hope we can do it.

Joe