In the Blink of an Eye

My heart and thoughts are with the family and friends of Elizabeth Nass and Rose Mayr—the two young ladies killed this week when the train derailed in Ellicott City.

Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a terrible tragedy like this to remind us how precious life is and how fortunate we are to be here. At times, life boils down to sheer chance. I think this is when the religious folks chime with “God’s will” or the like. Whatever your beliefs or non-beliefs, you have to agree that luck/fate/destiny has impacted your life many times and probably in some very significant ways.

I don’t mean to trivialize or minimize this week’s tragedy and loss by using this expression, but this is a case of their being in the right (or wrong) place at the wrong time. They and other young adults have no doubt enjoyed many nights hanging out on the railroad bridge. But that night, misfortune struck and we lost two young souls.

If I look back at my life, I definitely have a few standout events that I can put into this category of pure chance and things aligning just right for me to still be here. I’ve written about this here on Patch (). If that 2008 cookie exchange had been on a different night, my sweet Cookies would never have found me—and chances are I wouldn’t be here today. And if Cookies hadn’t have come to me in my darkest hour in 2009, I know I wouldn’t be here today. The crossing of our paths has most definitely changed my life.

Additional events come to mind for me: the lucky breaks I’ve had when it comes to jobs, not breaking my neck in a hockey collision, and avoiding major injury during a 2010 auto accident. For others, there are the chance meetings that led them to the love of their lives and similar life-changing events.

Again, take some time to think about how different your life would be (better or worse) if just small changes were made in the past. While you are at it, keep the families and friends of Elizabeth and Rose in your thoughts.