The Fleeting Moments

Sunday was an incredibly emotional day for me. Most of you know, I don't cry very easily, but Sunday I cried several times. We had a wonderful lesson in Relief Society about being daughters of God. I was asked to read a quote by author Anna Quindlen. This is the quote:
"The biggest mistake I made as a parent is the one that most of us make... I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of my three children sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."

How ashamed I felt of myself sitting in that room, knowing I was making those same mistakes. Knowing that I could never get those fleeting moments back.

Now, why this lesson hit home so hard:

Saturday morning we received heartbreaking news. A family in our ward lost their oldest son due to a drunk driver. This was doubly hard for us, as he was a police officer for the city of Phoenix. Shane Figueroa was responding to a shots fired call when a drunk driver ran a red light and struck the drivers side of Shane's patrol car. He is survived by his wife and 3 month old daughter as well as numerous extended family and friends.

As the wife of a police officer I have lived this in my mind wondering how I would cope if Jeff never came home from his shift. My only consolation would be my knowledge of the plan of salvation and how it works and my Savior's love for me and my family. I know his family is close to the Savior and that this is a comfort to them. I hope his wife finds peace with her Savior and comfort in his love for her and their family as well as forgiveness for the man who took her husbands life.

Please keep this family in your prayers and remember the fleeting moments of life, they are the most precious and often the ones we remember the least.