wait - what?

This will seem blindingly obvious to my readers (or, probably reader - hi! ), but - there are Christians who really, actually believe that there is an afterlife? That death isn't the end? I mean, I've heard this for most of my life, but never really stopped to think about it. It seems so incredible and impossible to me that I assumed it was one of those things that people say, but don't put stock in - like saying "Bless you" after a sneeze, you know?
I try to be openminded about others' beliefs, on the grounds that other people's convictions aren't any of my business, so long as no one makes them my business. Often, I fail at this - though I'm pretty good about not trying to persuade others that I'm right and they're wrong. So I've come here, to the blog that I keep just to store almost-private thoughts, to say: wow, that's really weird.

the perfect ending?

Sarah Meier, figure skater from Switzerland, planned to end her amateur career in front of a home crowd at the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland. She was third after the short, and had never won any major competitions. Costner of Italy was, unexpectedly, in 6th after the short, and Korpi was first.
Meier skated last, after a series of rather uninspired performances (possibly the most pleasing, to my surprise, was Tara Lipinski's surprisingly good commentary on the skaters). As you might have guessed from the lead-off and the title of this post, she skated beautifully, with no mistakes, and won.
No, seriously, can you imagine? A career without any major international wins, a season spent out of competition because of a foot injury, the decision to skate this one last event because it was at home - and then a surprising win? She jumped up and down once she realized she had won, and she cried. I can't imagine many viewers at home watched Meier without at least thinking of blinking away a happy tear or two.
I can't imagine a better way to finish a career.