Well, I don't usually post things like this, but it is a part of Life, and yesterday we came face to face with death all day. My Mom used to call the decade of your Seventies, the decade of goodbyes. And yeah, people my age (72 and a half) can pick up the paper (boy am I showing my age) and read about famous folks our age passing on. This last week we lost some star athletes, actors, and writers. And the reason I am writing today, is I just found out that the last of my HS buddies, is gone. And one of my close friends, lost his brother who was my age, on the same day his wife was diagnosed with Rapid Onset Dementia. And my oldest brother has started Hospice.
And I have had five friends lose their Lifetime partners so far this year. It is over whelming sometimes.
In some cases, you feel helpless. In others you witness from the outside the utter hopelessness of a battle nobody wins. Yet at the same time, a fierce determination sets in to enjoy your day, your health and the ones you love. Another little homemade chocolate milk shake with your grandson. A cup of coffee with your daughter, a few moments where you and your spouse chat about their day. Nothing spectacular, a quick smile, or joke with someone at FoodLion, or sitting on the porch as the day closes- you cherish those moments. If you have the health to move about, walk, and take care of yourself, you not only feel "Lucky" but you are filled with gratitude. So death makes life sharper somehow. But the sadness and grief lurk in the shadows. I wish we all died peacefully...at the end of a good day, holding hands with the ones we love. Watching the grim reaper hack his way to your door...is not the stuff of dreams, but of nightmares. So we ignore him, and choose the light.