Sometimes, the most opportune time to find reasons to celebrate humanity is after a tragedy. It may be difficult to do so – and then again, maybe it isn’t so difficult.

Last Sunday, my neighbor’s brother was seriously injured in an accident in his shop at home. Saying he is lucky to be alive is an understatement.

Instead of taking the space to go into more detail of what happened, I will just encourage you to check out his CaringBridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jayzierden.

What you will find there, as you would on most CaringBridge sites, is an outpouring of support, through prayers, kind wishes and offers of assistance.

You will find, amid some words of worry and trepidation of what the future might hold, many words spreading a theme of hope, of perseverance, of faith.

You will find a testament to the impact a person can have, that, for many, will only be fully realized by their loved ones at their funerals.

From my experience knowing my neighbor and her siblings, I would say they are a family who grew up valuing hard work and helping out. That has definitely carried on into adulthood for them. If a job needs to get done, they get it done. Better yet, if a job needs to get done for someone else, that probably gets done first.

For a man who is used to helping out others, it may not always be easy accepting the help from others, but when you are laid up in a hospital bed, struggling to move, you have little choice.

You have little choice but to find out the kind of structure others build on the foundation you have laid.

You have little choice but to find out the fruits that are harvested from the seeds you have sown.

You have little choice but to find out the numerous lives you have touched and the significant impact you have made on others because of the outpouring they give back.

There is still a long road of recovery for the family to travel. Lost work time, mounting medical bills, changes in family routines, and physical and emotional stresses, among many other things, will be obstacles on that road. Times like these, though, reveal character and build it, not only in the family going through the difficult times, but in the rest of us, as well.

I am not a believer in things happening for a reason. I believe things happen and how we choose to respond to those things gives meaning to those things. Our humanity will show itself no matter what. We get to choose whether it is the best parts of our humanity or the not-so-good parts.

I am blessed and honored to know a family such as my neighbor’s family and I am even more hopeful for humanity because of how they, and those who know them, are responding to this accident.

One final thought – though kind words at funerals and wakes are comforting to the families, why do we wait till it is too late to let people know the difference they have made?

Hopefully, the people who have touched us will not need to be lying in a coffin, or in a hospital bed, before they fully understand the value they have added to our lives.

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