Grave of the Fireflies

Last night I watched the movie Grave of The Fireflies. It is a beautiful and moving story of a boy and his younger four year old sister trying to survive after the firebombings in Japan. The boy struggles to keep his sister well fed and protect her, but in the end, she dies. The movie starts with the boy dying and meeting his sister's spirit. Then the movie begins.

I cried at the ending and then went down to sleep next to Annika. It made me think that when terrible things happen, like wars and pandemics, it is the children who suffer and who we must think of. It is the opposite of what Garrison Keillor said this weekend, "The death of an old man is not a tragedy."

This morning my Mom's cousin Pete Specht died from complications from emphysema. He was not an old man, but he was loved by his family. And now he is in a place where he can breathe fresh air and fully enjoy the love of God.