Life to the Full

Today would have been Kassidy Foster's 15th birthday. One of my sister's best friends, she competed alongside Katie at Virginia Techniques. Kassidy was full of life, spunky, sass, and spirit. In March of 2007, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which is a form of bone cancer. She passed away that July. For the full story, check out the website.

Even though I'm 2400 miles away from home, my heart is with her family today. I'm dressed in pink (her favorite color) and wearing my Kassidy bracelet. It's not just on important dates, though, that I find it important to keep up her memory. Instead, her life and courage in the face of cancer changed my life.

I'm from Blacksburg, VA - the home of Virginia Tech. In April 2007, the Virginia Tech shootings happened, greatly affecting my hometown. It shook the entire community to its core. Bad things don't happen in Blacksburg. It's too tiny, too quaint. However, something awful did happen there and I don't believe the town will ever be able to forget.

Through the shootings and through the death of Kassidy, I grew. I grew in how I dealt with grief. I grew in my understanding of the world. I grew up - a lot. But mostly, I grew in my understanding of how to live.

As a fifteen year old, I was naive enough to think that I was somewhat invincible - that there was always time to do whatever I chose to put off. Yet through seeing all that could happen in such a short period of time, I came to understand that life is short.

With this knowledge, I was not afraid. Instead, it gave me a zeal for life. Even Kassidy - in her suffering and pain - still lived well, with spunk and pluck. If she was able to that in the most difficult of situations, then what excuse would I have to not do so when things were going well?

Although I sometimes forget what it means to live fully, I think I'm starting to understand that it doesn't always look the same. I tend to think if I'm not being super productive, or engaging in deep and meaningful conversation, then I'm wasting my time.

But perhaps a mid-afternoon nap once in a while is just as full and freeing as an hour long conversation about the meaning of life over coffee. Dr. John Mark Reynolds encouraged my Torrey group when we went to his house for dinner a few months ago. He reminded us that grades aren't everything. That we study in order to learn how to live well.

This has been an important lesson to learn -- that fellowship should sometimes trump study. However, as I've come to understand that that is what will matter in the end. My knowledge of books is only important in that it helps me to engage better with others. My main priority should be living a life filled with Christ's love, spilling out everywhere. I want my life to be full of meaning, because it could end tomorrow. I want to live like Kassidy - with courage, spunk, and faith in the midst of all situations - good and bad.