I returned from a 10 day vacation
to discover via Facebook that a friend and former classmate of mine had passed
away while I was away. Needless to say
it was a considerable shock. In the few
days since the discovery and having attended her Celebration of Life I have
been considering what life is all about and what sort of curve balls we have
thrown our way.
One can say all sorts of conventional things like “life is short”, “live in the moment” or “you never know” but the truth is that the shock and concern, like most things, are transitory. For the most part we can live with those cautions upper most in our mind but the reality of it slowly fades back into mundane day to day activity. Seldom do people take to heart the lessons “learned”. They aren’t learned, they are simply thought about in the moment but disappear. We take life for granted, we take our own life for granted as well as those who mean a lot to us. We expect they will be with us for much longer than they often are.
Those who know me well know that I dislike answering the telephone unless I know who is calling. I screen my calls because I get so many robo calls which are a really aggravation to me. Now I tell those who call me to please speak on the answering machine so that I know who it is and I will snatch up the phone and talk, if I am in the house. I also make an effort to answer those potential robo calls just on the off chance it is a real human being for the simple reason that I want to ensure my friends that “I am listening”. The passing of my friend was caused by cancer but for a terrible few moments I feared it might have been something worse. Yes, I felt guilt in case I hadn’t been listening.
One can say all sorts of conventional things like “life is short”, “live in the moment” or “you never know” but the truth is that the shock and concern, like most things, are transitory. For the most part we can live with those cautions upper most in our mind but the reality of it slowly fades back into mundane day to day activity. Seldom do people take to heart the lessons “learned”. They aren’t learned, they are simply thought about in the moment but disappear. We take life for granted, we take our own life for granted as well as those who mean a lot to us. We expect they will be with us for much longer than they often are.
Those who know me well know that I dislike answering the telephone unless I know who is calling. I screen my calls because I get so many robo calls which are a really aggravation to me. Now I tell those who call me to please speak on the answering machine so that I know who it is and I will snatch up the phone and talk, if I am in the house. I also make an effort to answer those potential robo calls just on the off chance it is a real human being for the simple reason that I want to ensure my friends that “I am listening”. The passing of my friend was caused by cancer but for a terrible few moments I feared it might have been something worse. Yes, I felt guilt in case I hadn’t been listening.
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