It Might Have Been

 

   It's November 13 again. The day we remember Steve. He was born early in the morning of November 13, 1975, and lived with us for eighteen  years. Here he is on his 18th birthday in 1993.

   Seven weeks later, on January 2, 1993, Steve's life on earth ended when the passenger side of the car he was riding in slammed into a tree. That was thirty-one years ago. Today would have been his 50th birthday. What would he have done in these thirty-one years? Who would he have married? Would he have had children? People who are fifty have grandchildren. There are so many things we will never know. I often think of what John Greenleaf Whitter wrote in the poem Maud Miller.

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: "It might have been!"

  In my mind, Steve is forever eighteen. How would he look at age 50? AI took a guess with and without hair. He was born bald and didn't need a haircut until he was four. I think he probably would have had hair only a few years and been bald like his brothers if he was here today. But then, eternity is timeless and ageless so if people have hair in heaven it probably doesn't fall out. 

     Today we remember Steve and treasure the memories we made while he was still with  us. We rest in knowing God is good and makes no mistakes. Someday we will understand why Steve left time for eternity after eighteen short years on earth.