No Life = No Death

I have three people in my life that are dying as I type this ~

One is the father of a friend that I grew up with. A very special man to his entire family, and to me. He lost one of his legs in a gunshot accident when he was 15 years old. The first time I saw him I was 12 years old and I was not aware of his "leg". I was standing in the entry way of their house waiting for my girlfriend when he came hopping down their hallway on his only leg (with his sweatpants pinned up on the side of his missing leg) yelling, "Madeline, where's my f_ckin' TV guide?" To say he made an impression would be an understatement. The funny thing is that my first impression was not a true depiction of this loving husband and father.

The second person is one of my favorite people on the face of the planet. She's not a relative, but our family made her one of our own when she started dating my uncle when I was four years old. Their relationship lasted about 10 years, but she was too special to let go, so we didn't. She had an extremely difficult childhood, growing up with two violently alcoholic parents. When she shares stories from her youth it's hard to believe that someone can come through such things ~ especially someone so extraordinary.

The third person is the mother of one of my son's teachers. She is the mother of eight children and her youngest is five years old.

These three people have little in common, but they've all made their mark on our world and they all have loved ones ~ family and friends and family of friends and friends of friends and co-workers and acquaintances that are going to miss them when they're gone. People who are going to grieve their loss. They're all going to leave a hole somewhere in time and in many people's lives.

So many refuse to view abortion as death. I imagine that for them that's the beauty of not admitting that there was ever a life to begin with. No life = no death. It's hard to imagine the immense hole left in our world because of the death of the millions that have died before they were even allowed to be born.

If we stop and think, even for a moment, how many lives are touched by one person . . .