Finding Meaning in Life when Death Happens

Since Pam and I have come together we have each lost a Grandparent.  Her Grandpa Miller died right after we got engaged and my Grandma Maynard passed away right after we found out we were pregnant.  We each still have a complete set of grandparents and we want it to stay that way for a long while.

Since these important people have moved on I have pondered a lot over what a single life means and how it touches other people for good or for bad.

For people like Grandparents, who walked the Earth for awhile, the answers come easily.  They were our examples and we are a part of their legacy.  Grandpa Miller helped Pam pay for her education.  Grandma Maynard got me interested in my ancestors which led to my current career.  Kindness, compassion, love, faith, service, and duty are just a few of the lessons that they taught us.

But what about those lives that are short, and even those lives that aren't even human?

Pam's puppy Clara that we gave up for adoption was killed by the animal shelter just 14 days after we dropped her off due to over crowding.  Clara was a major force in getting Pam and I together.  She and Angel would be babysat at the Fowles everyday, which gave Pam and I an opportunity to meet together everyday.  Pam and I might not have gotten together if not for Clara.  Pam wouldn't have been as exposed to the church without Clara bringing her into a house full of Latter-Day Saints.  The happiness that dog has brought into this family will last for time and all eternity.  Who says a puppy can't change someone's world?  Sometimes I like to think that my family's old dog Sheba, who watched out for me as a child, watches over the spirit puppy Clara now.

At the funeral my brother Keith talked about the difficulty he had explaining death to his daughter Ali after their fish died.  When Grandma Maynard was dying Ali, full of faith asked, "Grandma is going to see Heavenly Father now?"  My four year old niece has a testimony of the Plan of Salvation partly thanks to some fish.

Every life has meaning; it's really up to each one of us to figure it all out.  Part of me, as a historian, believes that the more good we do the more our lives have meaning, even if we never make it into a text book, if we are remembered for the good, we have done well.  Mainly though, as a believer, it has a lot more to do with our personal standing before God.  In the end we can only hope to be remembered well by those left on Earth and have faith in God to do the rest.