a sad, strange event

This weekend I went to Houston for a few wedding showers. Two were for my friend Kristen, in Lake Jackson, who's getting married in September and one was for my cousin, Lisa, who's getting married in November. Three weddings showers in one weekend was kind of crazy and I co-hosted one of Kristen's - which was fun.

I'm a bridesmaid in Kristen's wedding and I needed to get my dress altered. So, on Thursday my mom and I went to our favorite alterations shop. It's run by a Vietnamese lady who always does a great job, doesn't take long, and doesn't charge too much. We've been going there since I was in high school. This past Thursday the lady measured my dress and a couple of pairs of pants for my mom, told us it would all be ready on Saturday, and that was it.

Here's where the sad part comes in: on Saturday when my mom went to pick up our clothes, one of the employees told her that the lady who had measured our clothes on Thursday was killed in a bus accident on Friday. The story had been all over the Houston news - a bus of people from a Vietnamese church were on their way to a conference in Missouri when their bus had a horrible accident north of Dallas and about 15 people died - our alterations lady was one of them. I was shocked and it was so strange and sad to think that on the day she measured our clothes, she had less than 24 hours to live. We take life for granted, but you really never know how much time you or the people you know and love have left on this earth.

I'm glad she was a Christian. There was a section on her in the Houston Chronicle and they talked about all the work she did in her church and how much she helped people. She was also great at her job. Her husband was with her on the bus, he survived, and they have 5 grown children. Please pray for her family and everyone involved in that tragic accident.