"If I knew that this was the last time I was going to see you, I would hug you tight." -Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I am touched today by an email from a long time friend. She wrote to tell me of her friend's son who died in the line of duty in California. Ryan Bonaminio was killed November 7, 2010. She shared a memorial video with me. Please watch it if you have a chance. Ryan's smile is contagious.
His video makes me think of a David Crowder Band song. I don't know all the lyrics but they say something like, "The problem with you and me, I don't know what to do with a love like that and I don't know how to be a love like that….Where there is pain let us bring grace."
I look at Ryan's smile and think, I don't know how to live like that. I don't know how to live with wild abandon and such a carefree spirit. I don't know how to love till it hurts with no conditions or expectations. I don't know if I smile like that, without worry or stress.
All I know is when I see this young man's photo, I want to live like Ryan. I want to smile like that.
You are capable. That was the message at a conference I attended this past summer. You are able. You can smile like that, Jennifer, if you want to. Unimaginable and impossible are not the same thing. Living intentional is up to you.
