A selfish blessing

I heard on the radio that 16 year old Jett Travolta, son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston died after hitting his head in a bathtub on Friday. So far it is considered an accident though he did have a secondary condition he dealt with that concerned his arteries and perhaps that came into play.

Every time I hear of a life taken before it even begins it makes my heart ache. Part of that today is the selfish guilt inside me that says, "It should have been you that died that day as well." Its moments like these were I looked at my wife and when I told her about the Travolta tragedy I said, "I was 16, I hit my head, I shouldn't be who I am today. I have a family and career. I could have died too."

I spent time after my miraculous recovery helping grieving family's whose siblings had suffered from an aneurism or TBI, when the family couldn't understand the process or the pain that the victim was going through. Conversely I was a person who the victim could see as someone who had been were they are and could give voice to what they could not express.

I feel really bad for the Travolta family. But it makes me appreciate my recovery even more. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person. But I'd take feeling bad than not being able to express feeling bad, any day.

There's treasure everywhere.