What will YOU be Remembered For?

..or a better question maybe..HOW do you want to be remembered (and'or for what?)?

I have decided not do a a Friday link up (though are there plenty things that I have been loving). It doesn't seem to be appropriate for/in the light of the news I received last Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon (while I was at work, no less), I missed a call from my mom, and since she doesn't call my cell very often (well, not a huge amount), I decided to call her back, you know..in case there was a family emergency. Well, everyone in our family was fine, but I got news that one of my very good friends (who lives in town), lost her husband suddenly. He was also my friends, and we all grew up together. I call us the (name of small town) Gang. We may not see each other that often (even though a lot of us live in the same city), but whenever do, we talk as if we have never been apart. Anyway....when I found out, needless to say, I was shocked. I started to shake...I almost cried right then and there. (Normally, I wouldn't have been at work that early, but I had agreed to work a few extra hours before my "real shift" started). He leaves behind his wife and two young children. I ended up leaving around 3:30, b/c I was having a rough time of it. I came home, called Mom, and laid on the couch for an hour. I was in shock. I cried for awhile. Then, I HAD to go and see her. I spent maybe a few minutes there, and came home. All Tuesday evening my anxiety was high. I was upset, and unsettled. I just sat on the couch, and flipped through Facebook. Even hubby was shocked. It doesn't seem real. Even when I went to see her, I swear I could hear his voice when I went inside. Everyone in the Valley is shocked. The funeral is going to be this Friday. Needless to say I am SO glad that I took this last wknd, and this week off as/for my vacation, so I could have time to mourn, and help out wherever/whenever I could. Wednesday, and Thursday I was ok (I went to work Thursday), but Friday, and even over this past wknd I was unsettled.

***this part of this post was written June 3, 2015***

He leaves behind a family, a church, and three communities with insurmountable grief....which brings me to the question, and the title of this post...what will YOU be remembered for? and How do you want to be remembered?

He was a wonderful guy, happy and full of life. He loved his family, wife, kids, but ultimately, he loved Jesus. He always made us laugh. We would be laughing within a few minutes of saying hello. That's just the type of guy he was. He made a stranger feel like a friend in just a few minutes. He made you feel important. Yes, he had a  good job (that he was good at, and that he loved), and yes, he was involved in his church, but I doubt that that will be what he will be remembered for. He probably won't be remembered for the type of gifts that he gave (though I am sure gave many nice gifts), or the car that he drove, or even that holidays that they took. He will be remembered for his passion; for Jesus; for his family; for whatever he set out to do. He will be remembered for his laughter, and jokes. He will be remembered as a wonderful son, brother, friend, husband, and father.

So many of us spent time, effort and well, money getting rich, climbing the ladder, and buying the next big thing; or going on expensive vacations. When they die, what do they leave in their wake? Probably a lot of sad and lonely people, not just because they died, but because they didn't spend TIME with the people they loved. They didn't make their kids' soccer game or piano recital (I say DIDN'T, not COULDN'T; there's a difference), b/c they "just had to" finish up a project, or go to a meeting. They put off their family vacation (or didn't go with them, or didn't show up to family reunions), b/c they "had to" get finish up a report before the deadline. They couldn't attend a friends wedding or their cousins bar mitvah (ok, i am one to talk, since I have only made two three or four of my cousins weddings, and I have never been to a bar mitzvah, but I want to go, they sound like fun!!), b/c of some other prior commitment that really wasn't that important to begin with. The list goes on, and yes, I have been guilty of doing these things myself. I am not saying to KILL YOURSELF to try to get a wedding, or family reunion, but if you can go, take every opportunity! These types of things make us realize (and take stock of) what is important, and what is not. They make us take things a little less seriously, and to take our family, Jesus, and loved ones a little more seriously.

So...my question to you is...How do you want to be remembered? Or what will YOU be remembered for? What will your headstone say?

RIP, Bro and friend! You will be missed!!!