sorrow and joy intermingled

I heard a story about a wedding this weekend that was pretty powerful. Apparently this wedding was held out in the country at a very nice resort ranch, and so the wedding party rented the resort for the night before the wedding. After the rehearsal, the family was out walking (maybe back to their cabins?) when the grandmother tripped on a step and fell backwards, hitting her head on a stone that was part of the steps. These stairs were pretty rustic, so the stones were jagged and sharp and the one she hit her head on cut into her scalp. Those nearby rushed over and helped her to sit up and to stop the bleeding. They figured that she'd probably need stitches, and that she might have a concussion, but they decided to wait for a few minutes to let her get her bearings. After a little while, the grandma started to bleed out of her nose and to throw up, so they rushed her to the hospital which was 20 miles away. Sadly, the nose bleed was a sign of a hemorrage in her brain, and the grandmother died that night. Late that night, as the bride and groom were trying to decide whether to go on with the wedding or not, the daughter of the grandmother asked them to wake up remembering the joy of the day, not to be burdened with feeling like they should be mourning. So, with that release by the daughter, the wedding went on. One of the things that the pastor who married them said was that he'd witnessed a man kiss his wife of 40 years for the last time the night previous, and they were about to witness a man kiss his wife for the first time, and how that was such an incredibly moving picture of the joy and sorrow intermingled in this life. While we wait for heaven, we experience such sorrows, and yet God has also provided us with such beautiful joys as well.

The story has had me deep in thought the last few days...realizing that life is not forever - it can be taken in the least expected moment. So what am I doing with the moments that I'm given? Do I recognize the beauty as well as the sorrow? Do I focus on one or the other? And how am I loving those around me? Would they know that I loved them if I were to fall and hit my head and die within a few hours? And that line about a man kissing his wife of 40 years for the last time and another man kissing his wife for the first time...geez, I tear up everytime. Life is fragile - am I loving with everything I have?