Freedom Is Not Free & Life Is Not Promised

I was up late last night writing an entry for today.  Before I went to sleep, I browsed my Facebook page.  Some of my high school classmates had posted a story about a Memphis officer who had been killed in the line of duty.  It scared me that the article was posted by a couple of different people. 
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In reading the article, I learned that indeed, it was our former classmate, Tim Warren. I hadn't seen him since high school, but when I saw his name, a picture of a tall, husky curly-headed boy came to mind as clear as day.  When I saw the picture of a slimmer Tim in uniform linked to that article, I knew right off it was him. 

I remember him because his father, Coach Warren, taught us Anatomy; and his mother had been my 6th grade teacher.  I remember that she past away when we were in high school. 

Coach Warren had an interesting way of helping us learn about the human body.  If I recall, every week we would have to stand in front of the class and recite a scenario on a bodily function.  The ones I remember the most are blood flow and Kreb's Cycle. 

Tim was in my class, and he wasn't exempt from having to recite the scenarios.  I remember thinking that if Coach Warren was my dad, I would know all the scenarios ahead of time.  Then I wouldn't mess up and embarrass myself in front of the whole class, which happened a couple of times.  But I must say it was a fun way to learn about the human body.  It sparked my first interests in biology and led to my initial college major of Biology and Pre-Med. 

When I was with my girlfriends in Memphis just over a month ago, we thanked God that we hadn't lost any classmates of late.  There were a couple early on, but not in our adult lives.  We were grateful. 

Now here we are just over 30 days, and the life of one of our classmates has been taken too early.  This falls perfectly in line with what I wrote about last night.  Life is too short.  We should not take it for granted.  

Today as we celebrate our independence, let's remember those who gave their lives to fight for our freedom and also those who vowed to protect and serve.


My prayers go out to Officer Tim Warren and his family.  ~ R.I.P. TIM...