Melissa Mansfield: April 9, 1971 - May 15, 2007

I type this with a heavy heart... My friend Melissa, the wife of my dear friend Aaron, died Tuesday night, after a long fight with cancer. She leaves behind not only her grieving husband, but two beautiful boys, ages four and six. I have no interest in making any sense of this. Death is simply messy, and to say otherwise is to lie in the most brutal way.

But, her family takes some comfort both in her faith - which they share - and in her last week with them. For those of you with the courage to stare into the face of grief, I suggest reading Aaron's most recent post, titled Melissa's Holy Week.

My semester is finally over, so I finally have some time to spend on my blog. However, for now I'm going to grieve the loss of a dear friend and a sweet woman, whose greatest desire in life was to be a mother. Her children are a credit to her, and are even now surrounded by her love for them. That is her lasting legacy.