Gratitude in the face of sorrow

This past Sunday, good friends of ours lost their 19 month old boy, Jordan. He had a rare condition, which I won’t try to explain here, but even though he faced serious challenges to his health, his older brother, Josh, who has the same condition, is almost 11. In short, Josh has beaten the odds to live this long, and his parents had of course hoped Jordan would too. But Sunday morning those hopes were dashed as Jordan slipped quietly into Glory.

Last night they came to our place, along with one set of Jordan’s grandparents, who are also old friends, and we ate together and visited. It might, on the surface, have looked like any other holiday gathering. Our kids played with their kids, we talked and laughed, we ate too much, took a break, then went back to the table and ate some more. However, the normality of the evening was broken by occasional exchanges that went something like this…

He was a little charmer wasn’t he?
Yes, he was.
I keep thinking about how much fun it was to make him smile.
I know, me too.
At least we know his body isn’t broken anymore – now he runs and jumps and speaks…

At least we know his body isn’t broken anymore. Even in the depths of sadness, saying farewell to a beautiful boy, there is room for gratitude. The sorrow that emanates like gloomy fog from this untimely death can’t touch Jordan where he’s gone. It is for we who live to weep – there are no tears on Jordan’s face.

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