Natasha Richardson age 45, award-winning actress, loving mother of two sons and wife of actor Liam Neeson since 1994, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, sister of popular actress Joely Richardson,  died this week of a head injury that occurred during a ski lesson in Canada.  Her body is being laid to rest as I type this.  A simple search reveals over 11,000 articles on the web surrounding the details of her injury and death. 

What a charmed life she apparently led, with her unusual happy celebrity marriage, proverbial country home just 90 miles north of New York City and second residence in a Manhattan apartment complex near Central Park.  In the prime of her life, her husband’s career soaring, plenty of money, friends in high places and opportunities abounding while the rest of the world pinches pennies and wrings their hands over the state of the economy.  A simple, sudden, freak fall on a bunny hill in the snow and – poof - a few hours later she’s slipping into eternity.  All the money and influence known to man could not save her.  A jarring gong reminding us all of the fragility of life.

So many frivolous things people will wish for as they go about their business today, and yet this tragic story reminds us of the true treasure of our relationships and the reality of an afterlife.  Just want to keep, and perhaps remind you to keep, an eternal perspective through all of life’s crazy shakings at the moment. Food for thought.