It’s interesting, and sometimes a little scary, how fast a person’s life can change. When we first moved to Florida, we were welcomed by our close neighbors. That same couple made sure we were introduced to others in the neighborhood, and both of us were invited to play golf with the neighborhood golf groups (men’s and women’s). We’ve made good friends with many of the people in the groups, as well as neighbors who don’t play golf.
Back to my first sentence – my life changed somewhat dramatically when I was hit by a car four years ago. I now walk with pain in every step and am waiting to pick the right time to have my left knee replaced.
This past October, the male half of the couple who introduced us to many people here fell over dead in his bathroom – totally unexpected – it was days before his 80th birthday.
A couple of weeks ago, another very good new friend was standing near his kitchen sink when he called for his wife to help him get to the car and go to the Emergency Room – after a lot of tests, he learned he’d had a stroke that changed how well his legs worked and affected his eyes. Now he relies on a walker for much of his walking, and he can’t look much further than ten feet ahead of him, or his eyes start to move around in different directions. After many more tests and several specialist appointments, he still doesn’t have answers about when, or if, things will get better for him. This man was a person most people could rely on to help them with repairs or projects.
Less than two weeks ago, another cab driver (and friend of mine) wasn’t feeling well – he was more tired than normal. He went to the doctor, who did a bunch of tests and sent him to a specialist, who did more tests, to find out that my friend has a rare form of stomach cancer. He was told he had two weeks of life left.
I’ve heard it said over and over, and I’m finding out it’s very true – if you think your life is difficult, you don’t need to look too far to find someone who has it worse.
Make sure to enjoy every day you get here on earth, because none of us knows when our last will be.
Have A Good Week!
