This month, two people to which I have been close have passed away. I am writing this because I need to remember them. All I have of them is memories, and without those, they truly will have died for me. While I remember them, they are never far away and I can bring them to life with but a thought.

The first is woman of incredible character. I don't know her very well, but I know her children. They are the kind of kids that don't stop at anything. If they get knocked to the ground, they'll get up and keep coming. I have yet to meet another family where every one of them is able to ignore hardships and continue their lives as if it never happened. Their mother is the same. She is a woman of character with strict rules and a kindness that allowed her to raise nine children and maintain her sanity. I heard that at her funeral, they didn't so much speak of her, but more of her children. When I heard, I couldn't help but smile. What better way to characterize someone than by what they have made? I dated her daughter once, and she never spoke a harsh word to me. She smiled at me when I would awkwardly stand at the door waiting for daughter, and even try to make conversation with me. I could tell she could hardly stop herself from laughing, and I thank her for sparing me that last ridicule for a teenage boy.

The second is a boy who should never have died. He is a kid, just a kid who ran in front of a car ... He was in my scout troop, one of the little ones who was always running around, asking questions, and never complaining. When I first heard of his death, I was struck by how much I didn't remember. The name didn't ring any bells, and at first glance, his pictures were only vaguely familiar. After it sunk in, I remembered him. I used to referee his soccer games. I remember him running around the field, trying to score, all in the seriousness of a boy playing a game. He was one of those who would do whatever you asked him to do without a word of complaint. You could always count on him to be there after hours of walking under the midday sun, and ready to keep walking until you summited that last peak. He was always ready to learn, eager to listen, and joyful for everything you gave him.

I remember these people not only because they have left, but because it was not their time. No mother should have to leave her nine year old girl, her girl who is just starting college, or even her boy who is faltering in school and excelling in sports. No boy should die when he's only 14, before he's really had a kiss, or even before he's even really noticed a girl for what she truly is. Neither of the should have left this world for the next, neither of them was ready for it, nor was it ready for them. This world lost a wonderful person and boy who was on his way to becoming one the best of men, and is the poorer for it. I pray, hope, need to know that there has to be something that after this life that will ... I don't know what, only that there has to be something there for them to go to, that they didn't just stop.

In the meantime, I will remember them. This way, they will never have truly left this world, and maybe, maybe, the world will still gain from having them live in it, no matter how brief their stay.