Flying Carpet or Falling Rug?

Just when you think your flying carpet is ready for a smooth ride, your carpet turns into a rug that someone is pulling out from under you.

This has been a very strange weekend. I learned yesterday at church that the young Marlins’ Pitcher Jose’ Fernandez had been killed in a boating accident. The boat he was in hit the jetty that reaches the entrance of Government Cut in the Port of Miami.  I’m very familiar with that area; I’ve been through the Cut several times but never at 3:00 am. As soon as I heard where he was I knew exactly what happened.

When my brother and I were in high school, we had three friends that were killed in a car accident. They were three young guys in a hot-rod going about 100 miles an hour when they ran head-on into a Mack truck. Needless to say they were killed instantly.

 I was drawn right back to that moment when I heard about Jose’ Fernandez.Three young guys out in a hot-rod boat and ran head-on into a rock jetty.  I believe this was a case, like our friends, that these guys were doing what young guys do, it’s sad and unfortunate but not that uncommon for guys and speed.

At the same time I heard that Arnold Palmer died. He had always been one of my dad’s favorites. With no disrespect to Jose’ Fernandez or Arnold Palmer, this also took me back to a time when I was pretty young maybe 9 or 10. We lived in the country and my dad was going to get gas in his car. Living where we did, anytime someone got into a car we begged to go along for the ride. Dad pulled into the gas station and pumped the gas, he then went inside to pay and I stayed in the car listening to the radio. Well I heard something on the radio that really upset me. I could hardly wait for my dad to come out so I could tell him the awful news I’d heard.

After what seemed like forever dad came out and I said “Dad, Dad, Arnold Palmer died!!” My dad looked at me like I had three heads and said “What do you mean?” With eyes the size of saucers I said “I just heard on the radio that he died, they said he dropped dead suddenly!” My dad paused for a moment and then seemed to have an epiphany. He asked me again, “what exactly did they say?” I repeated “they said he dropped dead suddenly!” Finally dad asked me “did they by any chance say ‘he dropped in sudden death’?” “I guess” said I, “he died in sudden death.”  At this point my dad started laughing hysterically, and if you know my dad that in and of it self is a rarity. At this point I was very confused. He then explained to me that in the game of golf when you go into extra holes, whoever loses is said to have ‘dropped in sudden death!’ When Michael got up on Sunday and I told him about Arnold Palmer he kinda chuckled and said “You have to tell your dad again that Arnold Palmer died?” “Yes”, only this time sadly it was true.  

To continue with the bizarreness of the day Sunday September 25^th is my daughter’s godson Cole's birthday. He would have been 18.  The reason I say would have,because two years ago he was 16, about 37 hours later on Saturday 27^th  he and two of his buddies were out night fishing and as they were making their way home on their bicycles, Cole was hit and killed by a drunk driver at about 1:00 am.

2014 was a really bad year for us. I had four knee surgeries and that was in reality the least of it. My mom had two very serious accidents and Mike and I lost 7 people that were close to us. The last one was Cole. In fact I had my 3^rd knee surgery just three days before Cole died. The others we lost were all older (not old) and had various health issues. But when Cole was killed, that really knocked the wind out of me. Cole's mother and my daughter have been friends since they were kids. Her family lives about 2 hours away so I haven’t seen them much in the past few years, but she still feels like one of mine. It was also the first time my grand-kids have gone through a loss like this. It was just wrong on so many levels. The only thing good is Cole was a believer and loved the Lord so we know we’ll all be together again.

As September 25 approached I thought about what I wanted to write about Cole. Little did I know that the day was going to turn into such a day of sadness, pain and memories? So I’ve decided to explain my feelings about Jose’ Fernandez and Arnold Palmer by republishing what I wrote to Cole’s family on September 28, 2014.

The World is Upside Down.

For Cole

Gerri Milosevich

September 28, 2014

We awaken every morning expecting the earth and the sun and the moon to be where it has always been, and then one day it happens, the world is upside down. 

We didn’t expect it, this is not the way it is supposed to be, we’ve planned and dreamed and even had conversations with ourselves as to what will happen in the next, 20, 30 40 maybe even 50 years, but today; the world is upside down.

It’s always the same, we are a nice family, we have a great son, this isn’t supposed to happen to nice people like us, but today it did, and the world is upside down.

God how could this happen? We believe in you and your son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit you are supposed to protect me and mine but you didn’t and today the world is upside down.

In spite of this, it isn’t God’s will, He didn’t take him, but He is there to meet our beloved son with pure love, the pure love that casts out all fear.

Though what we can’t see from here is a single tear rolling down God’s cheek as He weeps for us and gathers’ angels around us:

Friends who drop everything to come and meet our needs, loved ones to hold us as we cry, young people who cry, and laugh and remind us how special he was even though today the world, is upside down.

This isn’t God’s doing, he didn’t need another angel, this is earth fighting good and evil. We read in John 10:10 that the enemy comes to kill, to steal and to destroy, and today, the enemy killed our loved one, stole our hearts and destroyed the joy of all who loved a young man who is now singing WITH the angels. And because of THAT, because of the evil one, the world is upside down.

Lord, will the world ever turn upright? Will life ever become normal again… probably not? 

Yet in Jeremiah 31:13 it says, “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”

And with God’s mercy and grace and unimaginable love, and the inconceivable power in the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we will learn to love, and laugh and to walk through a world that today… is upside down.