There is beauty amongst it all

This past weekend was a mixture of things. The good and the bad, the happy and the sad.

It's amazing how perfectly that really describes what occurred. 

Lets start on a happy note... I got to spend the WHOLE weekend with one of my lovely

best friend's Cassie! I haven't had the chance to see this beauty

since we spent New Years Eve together. It was an amazing reunion and I was extremely

happy that we got to see one another. We drove up, ate some sandwiches, hit our usual hotspots

(aka marshalls haha), went to a graduation party and then, of course, I had to ruin it by going and getting sick. All in all it was a success and it was completely worth it just to spend some time with her.

Excuse my heinous faces in these pictures! 

Other than that lovely time something occurred this weekend that just really struck me. (For lack of a better word). My town was hit with a tragedy and we lost one of our own. A 21 year old man, who was the younger brother of someone I grew up with. His older sister and I were close when we were younger and I watched him grow up, watched how much he was loved by his family. It was sudden and totally unexpected. You hear about these things happening in other places but you never understand the true impact or what it really feels like until it happens around you. I can not claim to have known him as a human being or anything along those lines, but my heart hurt for his family. For their loss, for how much they are going to have to go through to come out on the other side. My brain simply couldn't fathom what they could possibly be thinking or feeling. I was at a loss for words and wished beyond anything that I could do something but I knew that I couldn't.

Through the terrible tragedy something did happen, I fell in love with my town and the people who reside here all over again. Sometimes I tend to take it for granted, but I truly could not have ever chosen a better place to grow up. The outpouring of support that was shown immediately following was amazing. This boy touched so many lives and even those who might not have known him personally went out to give their prayers and condolences. I am blessed to be surrounded by people of this magnitude. I do not wish what happened upon their family to anyone ever, no parent should have to bury their child but I do wish that if should such a tragedy befall you that you have the support and love

that was shown to them, it makes me speechless.