July 13, 2025
Good morning,
July 13, 2024
Text at 5:45 am The boys [ the firefighters ] had a VSA [ Vital Signs Absent ] call this morning. It was Kendra. It doesn’t look good. Please pray.
Text at 6:00am Fred, Kendra didn’t make it. We are in shock.
I screamed at the phone, ” NOOOOOOO !!! “
Meaninglessness. I have done hundreds of funerals, each one unique. I have attended even more funerals and visitations. I have lost my mom, best friend and dad in a little over a year in 2024-05. Thousands of Gazans have died. I am not immune to death, loss and grief, but Kendra’s death hit me hard. We were pastoral colleagues for eight years, and we had a good relationship. She was gifted in sermons, art, love, compassion, and it was a pleasure to work alongside her. She had her struggles as we all do in our imperfect lives, but she was a good soul.
On Floradale Road in the small town of Floradale, we have had three deaths of young parents in 25 years. That’s a lot of unexpected grief for a small town. I had a heart attack in 2007, and under astronomical odds I lived. My wife, the volunteer firefighters, doctors and nurses, all did what they had been trained to do, and I survived. It all just worked. No one knows why I lived while the other three young moms and dad did not. It has never made sense to me. I find it unfair. I have questions.
I see Kendra once in a while, mostly in Waterloo. I look closer, and it is not her. She should still be preaching, standing up for justice in Gaza, loving Pete and taking good care of Kyana and Ollie. We should be having coffee at Renaissance in Elmira or Seven Shores in Waterloo.
The world is less complete without her. After a year, it still is a large hole in my world. I miss her, and she should still be here.
The Prophet says:
Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 1:1Fred
black and white shadows
crush humanity’s freedom
am I complicit ? MPL 2025
Ponder Anew 