F*A*N*G*U*P*O

My heart has been really heavy for the past few days, just thinking a lot about a lot of different things.  Last week Thursday was Utah's first game....and you know how my little family just LOVES the Utes!  We were happy that they won, even though they didn't really play as well as they should....a win is a win and we'll take it!  :) 

I was happy that Ova didn't have to work that night....they were kinda slow so they let him stay home if he wanted to...of course I wanted him too!  :)  We were watching movies in the living room and at like midnight Ova got a text from one of his friends....telling him that one of the Utah football players wife was in a car accident and she had died.  She was only 25 years old.  The story has been all over the news ever since it happened and every time I see it, I get teary eyed.  They just got married last summer, just over a year.  She was just at the game cheering on her husband and enjoying the victory....and a couple hours later she's in our Heavenly Father's kingdom.  You just never know.  I actually don't know her, or her husband....but the way it has affected me, you would think I did.  I guess it just made me put things into perspective.  It made me think about my life and my little family and what I would do if I ever lost Ova.  That seriously would be a trial that I don't think I'd be able to carry.  I can't imagine how her husband feels.  The emptiness and lonliness.  There are tons of people who are mourning with him and praying for him....but I don't think anything or anyone can lessen or ease the pain he is feeling right now.  This is where I'm grateful everyday for the gospel.  I'm grateful that we KNOW that if we live righteously, we will be together again FOREVER someday.  It makes me think of my little baby B.  I know I'll get to see her and hold her someday.  And even though I really wish I could have had the opportunity to do that in this life, I'm grateful to know that I will someday!

Life is too short.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed.  If there are grudges or arguements or really any negative energy in your life....ask yourself is it really worth it?  What is something happened to your loved ones tomorrow and you didn't fix things today, will you regret it?  Life is way too short. 

I cherish every moment I have with Ova, and with my kids.  I'm grateful everyday for them and the happiness they bring to me.  I can't imagine my life without them and I don't want to. 

To Ron Tongaonevai.....I'm so sorry for your loss.  I know nothing anybody says or does right now will ease the pain you feel right now.  I hope you can find comfort in knowing that your dear Janelle is yours forever and that you will be with her again!  And there are so many people around you....both family, friends and even strangers who are thinking of you, mourning with you, and praying for you.  Stay strong!

Here's an article from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Death of Utah player’s wife reminds us — football always a game

By Gordon Monson

Tribune Columnist

First published Sep 02 2011 01:46PM

Updated Sep 3, 2011 12:22AM

Sometimes life is too, too cruel.

And death is crueler.

A lot crueler than football will ever be.

In its first game as a member of the Pac-12, Utah was far from its best against the Big Sky’s Montana State at Rice-Eccles on Thursday night. Straight in the grille of so much anticipation about soaring to new heights, everybody on hand took note of the lackluster performance, including each member of the team.

During the traditional postgame playing of the school fight song, meant as a celebration of victory, when the players gather in front of the student section, holding their helmets in their hands above their heads and pumping them to the bounce of the tune, quarterback Jordan Wynn looked as though he were lifting a thousand pounds of iron. He grimaced as he stood there.

Then, the players quietly walked off the field and into the locker room.

As they did, I read the disappointed and dissatisfied body language of the Utes, as well as the name of each of the players stitched on the back of the jerseys, as they headed for the tunnel. One of the names I read, but didn’t recognize, was that of reserve defensive lineman Ron Tongaonevai, who I later discovered was a transfer from Snow College who played in five games last season, but did not play Thursday night. He disappeared slowly, in line with all the others.

There was no evidence of victory’s thrill.

An hour or so later, Tongaonevai, and eventually all of his teammates and coaches, would be crushed by life’s — and death’s — real pain. Tongaonevai’s wife, Janelle, whom he wed a summer ago, was killed in a car accident in West Valley City at 10:30 p.m.

Life is too, too cruel.

Death is crueler.

Football is just a game.

"Our hearts go out to Ron and families and friends on both sides of the marriage for the tragic loss of his wife Janelle," Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. "This is a devastating loss for everyone involved in our program. Our players and staff are grieving for Ron and our top priority is to give him our support."

Details for a team tribute and funeral plans were being worked out on Friday, all as players and coaches were gathering for meetings and watching film of the Montana State game, although, Whittingham said, "All of our thoughts and prayers are with Ron, and it’s very difficult to concentrate on anything else."

No doubt the tone of those meetings would be altered significantly. Players who might have been tongue lashed, harshly critiqued for Thursday night’s underachievement, were bound to have arms wrapped around them in Friday’s deep sorrow.

God bless Ron, his family members, his teammates, his coaches, every one of them. If a team really is a family, now is the time for it to embrace and encourage, to hold onto to one another, not to evaluate, to mess too much with what went wrong against the Bobcats, or what might go wrong against USC next week.