times like these

In times like these
and times like those
what will be, will be
and so it goes
on and on and on and on and on
on and on and on and on and on it goes...

there's always been
laughing, crying, birth and dying
boys and girls with hearts that take and give and break
heal and grow and recreate and raise and nurture
and then hurt from time to
times like these
times like those
what will be, will be
and so it goes...

-Jack Johnson "Times Like These"
(for a taste, click here... right click + save as)

The day started it off well enough... despite a craptastic morning commute, I arrived at the elementary school for another week of student teaching. The kindergarteners were a bit hyper from the weekend, but they weren't complete unmanageable, especially since it's the same class I was with a few weeks ago. They know, love, and respect the shaved head.

After work, I deposited my paycheck from Wing Luke (wh00t), dropped off some dry cleaning, bought two 2lb beef roasts on sale (2 for 1), and returned home, where I proceeded to make curry stew with one of the roasts. As the stew cooked, I checked my e-mail...

...and learned that the husband of a former AACF advisor and the father of two my Warm Beach kids passed away suddenly today, after suffering from a stroke on Sunday and dying of cerebral hemorrhaging.

For reasons both personal and probably obvious, I really sympathize and mourn for the family, especially the kids. One of kids is in high school, and the other is in junior high... and it just breaks my heart that this family now has to mourn the untimely loss of good father - a strong Christian man who didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't beat his children or live recklessly... and yet, his life is now gone while lesser humans infest this world, men without families who murder and rape and lie and steal - they continue to live on instead. Even my normally emotionally-removed self can't help but shed tears for the kids because I know all too well that they will be forced to confront the merciless reality that the question of "why, God?!" brings and in the heart-wrenching weeks, months, even years... they will wrestle with that question. I can only hope they will escape what I endured in their situation.

I wish there was more I could do than whisper helpless prayers and write a sad card of condolences. In times like these... indeed.

May God care for and bless the Shimabukuro family as they mourn.
posted by G at 11:37 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33