I've never understood why people- usually women- refuse to tell their age. Yesterday was my fifty first birthday and I have known women who would have given anything to say that but didn't get the chance. Shari, a patient I grew to know and care about, lost her life to cancer last week. I don't recall her age but she was younger than me. She and I sat together about a month ago and she cried because she knew her cancer treatment wasn't working. Even so, she couldn't bear to stop driving to the hospital and spending time she didn't have receiving chemotherapy because she simply wanted to live. Even as I tried to suggest hospice care for her, knowing the chemo was not only futile but was also making her feel worse, I respected her decision to go on. "I can't give up" she said.
I think of the actual people who are the "Five killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq" or one of the thousands just lost in Haiti. Just like that, and your time here is over.
Today I celebrate the first day on my way to 52. Each morning I see the sun rise is a gift that I will never take for granted even if I live to be 100.
No comments:
Post a Comment