I'm not talking about waiting too late to buy last minute Christmas gifts here. You can still find plenty of stuff left in stores just waiting for a credit card swipe to turn it into a gift, but you never know how much life you have left. Do you? All the news this month about the school massacre in Newtown, CT, and the predictions of the world coming to an end had me pondering how quickly any life can change. Then something closer to home made that fact crystal clear.
Until October, my aunt Naomi was a go-go-go kind of gal, always dressed in hip clothes and jangly jewelry and still working several days a week in retail even though she could have retired years ago. When some of the family had lunch together, she mentioned losing weight because she'd had trouble eating sometimes or little appetite but didn't think much of it because she'd had "stomach issues" all her life. But it got worse and eventually she wasn't eating at all. When she got too weak to drive herself, someone took her to the doctor, who found "a mass." Then last Thursday, she had surgery to check out the problem. The surgeon found cancer and sewed her back up, telling Naomi there was nothing that could be done and she had two weeks to live.
Today I sat with her in the hospital; she held my hand. I asked her how you deal with hearing that kind of news, and she said, "I don't know. I still don't know. I didn't expect this." Now she has to plan for her own death, plus make sure my Uncle Jesse, her husband that has Parkinson's Disease, will be taken care of in the nursing facility after she's gone. All she wants to do now is have a bowel movement so the hospital will release her and she can die at home. Her life changed that fast.
In a way, Naomi is lucky. At least she knows what's coming. She can say good-byes and hopefully have no regrets. But most aren't so lucky, like those folks in Newtown that had no warning. So don't wait until it's too late to make your life
Until October, my aunt Naomi was a go-go-go kind of gal, always dressed in hip clothes and jangly jewelry and still working several days a week in retail even though she could have retired years ago. When some of the family had lunch together, she mentioned losing weight because she'd had trouble eating sometimes or little appetite but didn't think much of it because she'd had "stomach issues" all her life. But it got worse and eventually she wasn't eating at all. When she got too weak to drive herself, someone took her to the doctor, who found "a mass." Then last Thursday, she had surgery to check out the problem. The surgeon found cancer and sewed her back up, telling Naomi there was nothing that could be done and she had two weeks to live.
Today I sat with her in the hospital; she held my hand. I asked her how you deal with hearing that kind of news, and she said, "I don't know. I still don't know. I didn't expect this." Now she has to plan for her own death, plus make sure my Uncle Jesse, her husband that has Parkinson's Disease, will be taken care of in the nursing facility after she's gone. All she wants to do now is have a bowel movement so the hospital will release her and she can die at home. Her life changed that fast.
In a way, Naomi is lucky. At least she knows what's coming. She can say good-byes and hopefully have no regrets. But most aren't so lucky, like those folks in Newtown that had no warning. So don't wait until it's too late to make your life
BIGGER
BETTER
BOLDER.
If your spirit has been whispering that it wants to sing, then sing. Loud and every chance you get. Climb a mountain, if that's your thing, or paint or learn to swim. Love with abandon, laugh until your sides hurt, and give hugs freely. You and I are still breathing and the world didn't come to an end, so we've got the chance to make our lives shine our brightest shine. Are you ready? I am!
Merry Christmas, Yall! May it be your best ever!!
