Not to be morbid, but I'm still grieving for our friends' son, who just lost his soon-to-be-fiancee in a crash, and for his mother, my best friend, who suffers much as she watches her son suffer. (Reminds me of Mary.)

It seems that an engagement was even more iminent than I realized. He had recently agreed to purchase a ring from her grandmother's estate to give to Laurel as an engagement ring; now, she'll be wearing it in her casket. He's an emotionally fragile kind of guy--with the sweetest, kindest, most open heart and a tendency toward the blues--and we're worried about him.

My prayer is that he will find in God the strength that he needs right now and emerge from this a stronger man than he was before. It's certainly what she--as well as the rest of us who care about him--would want for him.