Snap

Hold your hand out in front of you and snap your fingers. No, really, do it.

That's how long it took for a motorcyclist to inadvertently end his life yesterday - out for a ride on a sunny Sunday afternoon. That's how long it took for a friend's brother to become a quadriplegic last year. How long it took a dog to maul a girl across the street from my SIL and BIL and cause her to receive 90 stitches. That's how long it takes to say a vow, step on a plane, open a door, pull a trigger.

Very often I find it isn't the years that define or instruct our lives -- it's the briefest of moments. A wrong turn, a right turn, a smile, a slip, a ringing phone.

Are we ready? Are the people we love ready?