This morning when I turned my phone on there was a text message from a long time acquaintance who lives in a southeastern state. At one time he worked for our company when we had a location in Albuquerque. And once that facility closed down he moved on and we only were in touch every few years.
The message said simply "my ex-wife and daughter were murdered last night at their home in Albuquerque." It's a shock to get that kind of message when one first awakens. So I had to read it two or three times to grasp what he was telling me.
As soon as I was sure that I'd read it right I attempted to call him. But my call went to his voicemail.
So I replied to his text and told him that I was very sorry for his loss. He wrote back, saying he couldn't speak at the moment, but thanked me for the message.
My heart really goes out to him because I know how much he loved his 19-year-old daughter and the feelings he still had for his ex-wife. 20 years ago we were close enough that he and his wife and another couple from our company and my daughter and I all went together on vacation to Mexico for a week. The wife was a longtime employee of the public defender's office in Albuquerque, while the daughter was a college student at the University of New Mexico. Their deaths are a tragic loss to him and the rest of the family and their friends.
And that message this morning changed my whole perspective. When I went to bed last night my mind was buzzing with all the issues that I have been dealing with this week. Plus I knew that I had a lot of things waiting for me at the office that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
But after reading that message all of my so-called problems seemed to diminish to nothing. In relation to what this man is facing with the loss of his loved ones the minor things I'm dealing with seemed almost minuscule.
And I believe that that's the way it is in life. A lot of times we think that we have all kinds of problems facing us. Maybe relationship troubles. Perhaps financial issues. Maybe even health issues. But when we look around the world at what others are facing it helps us keep our lives in perspective.
No matter how much pain or misery we're going through we can see others that have real-life problems that make ours look small. We simply need to take the time and realize that we all suffer at some point – but there are others who are also going through their own pain. It helps us to keep our lives in perspective.
Click here to email John.
