This day.

On this day, my son is driving me crazy.

He's being intentionally bad.
He's acting out with a purpose, creating chaos for the sake of chaos.

On this day, he runs away from me in a parking lot.

Smashes cereal into the carpet.

Is less than pleasant to our dog, who loves him so.

On this day, he is loud and messy.

Throwing toys and slamming doors.
Destroying what was a perfectly clean house just this morning.

But if my son was taken from me...
If on this day, someone took my son from me...

That would be the end of my sanity.
It's so hard to imagine, seriously.
Trying to imagine myself in the place of one of those parents is so impossible for me.

I have prayed many times that my son will die an old, old man having lived a long, happy, healthy life pleasing to God. I have prayed that his body will not have to fight and struggle against disease.
But I've never prayed that my son will be spared from this kind of tragedy.
For no other reason than it didn't even enter my mind as a possibility.

But I'm certain these parents didn't believe it was a possibility, either.