Life-altering events can come in an instant

So, my son says to me, “Dad, life is too short.”

It is truly amazing how our perspective of life changes when it is nearly taken away from us, or seriously altered.

Such was the case this weekend when my oldest son, Danny, a college football referee, was injured while he and his crew were officiating the San Diego State University game at Qualcomm Stadium. In a collision with a player in the fourth quarter, Danny suffered a fractured C7 vertebrae, or as I was told on the phone, a broken neck.

I braced myself and expected the worst when I entered his hospital room. But to my indescribable relief, there he was, sitting up, trying to eat a sandwich.

Moments later, as he struggled to get up and take a step, after we had discussed the events that brought us together in that hospital room, he uttered those words.

It was truly a moment of awakening — for both of us.