Family: The sunshine of life
This blog is a rather novel entity, and since I bet many of you are visiting for the first time, I suggest you read the introductory post before moving onto to the more somber topic that is to follow.
Family is an important and integral part in most everyone's life, it has the ability to affect someone in the most substantial ways. Whether it is one extreme - your family means the world to you - the other extreme - not having family at all - or somewhere in between, at some level or another your family has likely shaped the person you are. It is sad to hear when family ties go awry; that is, family becomes something negative rather than being the blessed gift that it should be.
Today, it was released in the news (see in the Globe and Mail) that Kingston, Ontario police have charged a father, mother and son with the murder of their three young daughters/sisters, and a caregiver who was with them at the time their car was propelled into the water in the Kingston Mills Locks. The family was believed to be travelling together into two vehicles, the accused in one and the deceased in the other, from Niagra Falls the day that the accident occured. Initially, the surviving family filed a missing persons (and car) report before it was discovered that they were travelling together.
A futher investigation resulted in the three remaining family members being charged with several counts of first-degree murder. Such a story is sickening and makes you question what family means to some. It makes you question whether the family in question took each other for granted. It makes you wonder why certain cultural traditions are still being followed and it makes you wonder how someone could commit such a horrendous act.
Another story from yesterday, however, is sickening in an entirely different way. A widower was forced to eulogized his former wife at a funeral in Montreal yesterday, after his wife was killed by a falling piece of concrete earlier this month. It is unknown whether the falling of the slab of concrete could have been avoided, but what is known is that it happened and the life of Lea Guilbeault was taken, at the tender age of 33.
Imagine the two scenarios 1) parents and a brother allegedly killing their young daughters/sisters and 2) a young wife being killed in a freak accident. They are starkly different, but result in the same thing: families being broken apart. If you've read the introduction to this blog, you know that it is supposed to be positive and celebrate the good things in life. Not much positive can be taken from these grave situations, however, what they teach us is that the we should celebrate the good that is our family.
This celebration is summed up perfectly by a post written by Faizal Khamisa, entitled "Don't forget those close to you". How I came across these three stories at relatively the same time is eerie but seems - and I'm sure is - meant to be. In this post, Faizal describes a time when his sister forced each of their family members to compliment each other. It's not easy if you've tried saying something nice about one of your family members, but it should be. And it should be done more often. The two instances above prove that life can be so short and families can be torn apart so quickly. Do you want that to happen to yours without having expressed the love you have in your heart? I know, sometimes things go unsaid, but isn't it better to say them? Imagine how you'd feel being complimented by those that you undoubtedly respect and love the most in your life. Now imagine how they would feel if you did the same.
Such a simple act - professing the appreciation and love you have towards your family - can go such a long way. Hani Guilbeault expressed to his late wife's coffin yesterday that she was "the sunshine of his life" and in many cases as Faizal points out we would be nothing without or families, we would be without sunshine, living under a dark cloud. As difficult as it may be, take the time out to appreciate what you have in whatever family (or friends you consider family) you have because life can become so different in the blink of an eye.
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