Good Grief

Today we buried one of the nicest, sweetest people I know, my Aunt Evelyn. She lived a long life...83 years. We went to the lunch afterward and spent a long time reminiscing with family about the "good old days". By the time I picked Evan up and got home it was almost 4:00. I was emotionally exhausted. When Alex got home, I asked him to go downstairs and get the cat food bucket. As he got to the top of the steps, he put the bucket down and pinched his finger on the handle....without missing a beat, he yanked his hand back and said "ouch, damn it!" and looked up at me with the same shocked look that I am sure was on my face! I stifled the laugh that was trying so hard to come out and told him I didn't ever want to hear him say that again! He said he was sorry with tears in his eyes and then ran out of the room. Normally I would have problably smacked him and sent him to his room, but the sound of Daniel not as successfully holding back his laugh made me think to myself how short this life is and how blessed we truly are to have the family that we do for as long as we have them...good times and bad...all the proud moments and the not so proud (case at hand) and how it is good to have grief because it makes us appreciate what we have no matter how bad we think it is, because in the big scheme of things, it is not so bad.