Editorial: Another young life lost

Last Updated on Friday, 10 February 2012 15:29 Written by Bettina Thiel
Friday, 10 February 2012 10:16

Another Amity family lost a young person to tragic circumstances this week.

Eva Block, by all accounts a beautiful, blooming young woman whose beaming smile spoke volumes about her zest for life, was trapped in a horrific house fire near the college she was attending, a fire that left her and two others dead.

After Eric Soufrine, who died by enemy action in Afghanistan, and Joey Ciancola, who collapsed on the athletic field, this is the third untimely death of a recent Amity High School graduate in less than a year. Each of these cases had its own set of circumstances and each leaves an abundance of painful memories for the family in particular, but also in the community at large.

We struggle with the senselessness of these deaths. Lives that had achieved a certain level of accomplishment, that radiated out and ahead, lives that seemed so full of promise, why are they cut short?

The level of pain that the surviving family members have to endure is immeasurable. While we hope that the dead leave their pains behind, the survivors often carry that pain into the future.

A father who a few years ago lost his adult daughter to a particularly aggressive form of cancer said, “She loved life so much, it seems to me she packed all the living into the years she had.”

The answer, then, is not to weigh death by age or accomplishment. There is never really a good moment to die.

Instead, his words remind us to make the best of every day, no matter what our age. Give a hug, give a smile, share a laugh. Forgive those around you for their limitations, and forgive yourself for your own.