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Life Sure Changes When...

Mikawa Ossan

いかんわ!
17 Sep 2005
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Life sure changes when the people around you, people that you would call friends with pride start dying from natural causes.

I don't mean people who you think of as older, or people who even look sick at all. Just one day they're here, and the next, they have a stroke or some other sudden thing happen and they're gone.

This has happened to me recently, with three strokes, one case of leukemia, and two deaths out of it all. It really has got me to thinking. I need to change some things in my life. Life is really too short to waste.

How about you? What has changed your life?
 
I read the obituaries everyday.

Seems like the older you get the more death becomes friends with you. My job brings me into contact with it more then most people; most of my patients die within a year or two of meeting them(believe me I don't help speed their death on). For me, it has taught me death is not something to be afraid of, we all meet it some day. One lesson I have learned is enjoy life now and don't plan to wait till you retire to do everything. So many people I know have worked and slaved very hard to make money for their retirement years, only to become sick and see all that money go for medical bills. They spend their last days wishing they had worked less and played more.
It has taught me not to sweat the minor problems in life. Spend more time with friends and less time working and worrying. Tell those around you how much you love/like/care about them; you might not wake up tomorrow to tell them then. Spending time fearing death and trying to avoid it, I feel is wasted energy;when your number is up, it's up. BUT, living a life style where you take unnessary risks and do unhealthy things to your body is probably not a great idea either. Find that happy balance for you.

Uncle Frank

 
I haven't experienced a death of someone close yet.. I have never known my grandparents, and the relatives that I have lost I didn't have a close relationship with. I still have all the dear people around me I can call my friends, so I guess I should be really happy.

I'm very sorry for your losses Mikawa, I wish you a lot of strength to cope with it.
 
Seems like the older you get the more death becomes friends with you. My job brings me into contact with it more then most people; most of my patients die within a year or two of meeting them(believe me I don't help speed their death on). For me, it has taught me death is not something to be afraid of, we all meet it some day.
There are a lot of lessons, too, I think we can learn from the dying and the way they approach their own demise. My ex- job supervisor for instance, has been gravely ill for more than 2 years with primary pulmonary hypertension, an inherited disorder that until recently there was no possibility of a cure. Endless trips in and out of hospitals, locally and with specialists in Chicago, extended leaves of absence, being on and off organ donor lists, working through incredible fatigue. I look at her and absolutely marvel. If it were me, I almost certainly would have laid it all down, started praying and gone home to die.

And obviously in private a pain that great is going to take a superhuman effort for anyone to overcome. But she has very rarely let it show. Her example instaed has been of a dying person with absolute grace, acceptance and incredible (unnaturally) good humor -- always making jokes about not forgetting things due to lack of oxygen or being too bedridden to be mean. 😌 I wouldn't wish a disease like this on anyone. But it shows, too, very clearly how many things in life can be worse than dying -- like existing in an unfree, worried, unproductive hollow life.

A drug therapy for PPH disorder is currently under review by the FDA. I'm very sorry for the losses you have suffered, Mikawa and wish you all the best in the changes you need to make. Some of my goals are fortunately within reach and I work everyday on improving my relationships and working on those that will take more time. 😌
 
I just found out my Spanish teacher in high school died. I was told by my sister in law who was her hair stylist. She told me that Mrs. S always spoke so highly of me. I wish I would've went back to see her. When I left high school I went forward and never looked back.....I feel just terrible.
 
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