I received some horrible news this morning. A friend of mine sent me a message saying his nephew had died this morning. That nephew was just 21 months old.

 I don't know the full details of the illness but I know there was one and I know Little Jack had slipped into some type of coma before passing away. This really hit me between the eyes. My friend is a talented writer and, in a message on his Facebook page, commented repeatedly how life is not fair. He also went on to write how this little boy will never know the feeling of bare feet on grass, how good ice cream tastes on a hot Summer day, what's it like to run through a rain storm.

 I read all of this in his message and felt I should say something, but what? Any words or thoughts I could offer would not dull his pain or make him feel any better about the situation. Finally, I decided to write this;

 "I am so sorry to hear of this news. There is nothing I can add. Your writing is accurate and heartbreaking. It puts things in perspective. I am just so very sad right now."

 That's it. Sometimes, even when you want to say a lot, I think sometimes keeping it brief is better. Words fail when it comes to the death of a child.

 This is just another reason never to take anyone, or anything, for granted. I know I will spend the rest of this day thinking about Austin and Cameron and how life is just so much better with them. I'll let you in a little secret: with Austin, we had several bouts with early labor and worrying if everything would be OK. Nerves were frayed, tears were shed and prayers were said. We also worried all 9 months about Cameron because of what we had gone through with Austin.

 My friend is right: life isn't fair. A little life cut so amazingly short. But the lesson of Little Jack's life could be what led me to write this blog today: the idea of not taking anything for granted. The idea of being thankful for every day, the idea of having a humble and forgiving heart and, whenever possible, putting others before yourself.

 God Bless Little Jack.