Reflecting on another untimely death

Yesterday we received one of those calls; Elliot Brumm has died early Saturday morning in a car crash, apparently on the way home.

Elliot had been with Anna and I on our short-term mission trip to Bolivia. More like we went on his trip. You see Elliot loved going to Bolivia and it gave him a sense of purpose.

Elliott was a colorful, full of life kid. He had lived well beyond his 19 years and was one of those kids who had seen alot by 19, making him both wise and curious.

This is the second time in a 16 months that I have been close to death of the wrong kid, the death of a child. In each case, my reflection turns to the hole left behind. I know Jude Gilliam and Elliot are in heaven. Elliot, despite his roughness, knew Christ. But the whole in each family is palpable. The whole where a boy stood. a hole of personality and a role in the family. to me this is the real heartache left. Families are weird things.  Families are more than a sum of the parts. Mine is still forming, as Huck grows up his role in the family is emerging. But our 5 have a its own swagger and view, one that I cherish and miss. Tonight, we (minus Huck) were watching the Amazing Race in our master bed. I absolutely love those little snippets of time