Living each day to the fullest.....

Recently, a childhood friend of mine asked me if I felt a story coming on about our fragile existence. She is going through an awful time with her father who is in a home and suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Witnessing such a tragic event must be devastating, to say the least. To add to that, she is also loosing people to cancer and heart disease in her own demographic. Did we ever think we would get to this time of our lives where are friends are passing away?

Well Roxanne, I didn't feel the need to write when you first approached me, but these past few weeks have certainly changed my mind. One of my dear friends (who just successfully beat breast cancer for the third time) lost her Mom to cancer on March 17th and just last week I have discovered a new friend of mine is battling Ovarian Cancer. Add to that, the 2 year old daughter of one of my ex-co-workers is battling a form of juvenile leukemia. Now it feels close to home. Way close. So I need to write...

When I was nine, my Grandfather Guthrie passed away from cancer. Up to that point, I had never known anyone who had passed away. I didn't understand why people seemed to be so happy at his funeral. Later on I was told because grandpa wasn't in pain anymore. That made sense, in my 9 year old mind, although I was still sad that he was gone.

Fast forward 1975 - I am in Grade 10 at Napanee District Secondary School, my new 'Townie" friend Deb Magold, convinces me to skip school & go to Wartmans Funeral Home with her. A friend of hers had died in a car accident and she wanted to go see him. All I remember of that visit, was the pale, see-through skin and how I felt that I had seen a ghost. It was terrifying and unforgettable. If memory serves, this young man took his own life by driving off the road and into the North Channel of Lake Ontario. What seemed so unbelievable was that this victim was not much older than myself. How could THAT happen?

Over the years, I have had a few friends pass away, as well as grandparents and my own parents; but the majority of them were all over 50. Understandable. But not when it comes to people *my* age. I thought I was going to live forever...I thought my friend Rhonda Woodcock once told me that we were 'bullet-proof'! Did she lie to me?

Now that I am over 50, as are most of my friends, it appears we no longer have a lifetime ahead of us. When I think back on some of the crazy stunts I pulled in my youth, it is truly amazing that I am still here to talk about it. Even though the world was a different place when I was growing up, something always made me want to push my limits. Maybe I somehow knew that it was the right time to explore and experience life....before marriage, before adulthood. I have no regrets. I managed to find my life mate and have had a good life. Many are not as fortunate.

If you are looking for the moral of this story, I would have to say that it is to live life to the fullest.
Call or email an old friend...don't keep saying "We need to get together" and not take steps to make it happen. Do things that you always planned on doing, but kept putting off. I will take my own advice, as I am not getting any younger:)

An chance encounter with an *old* friend:)

Last night I ran into a long lost friend. We had not seen each other since 1980. Unfortunately I didn't recognize him at first...until he spoke. How odd that I can identify voices better than I can faces or names.

In 30 years this man has built his career to a position of prominence and respect. But to me, he is still just Andy! In a short time, we both managed to re-cap our lives and shared some delightful old memories of our years being schooled in a two-roomed school-house. We spent the first 5 grades being taught by Nuns; then in Grade 6 we were 'blessed' with a young male teacher named John Burke. He was fresh out of teachers college and he certainly made a huge impression on all of our young minds. "Mr Burke" spent hours playing football and baseball with us. No doubt these were things that the Nuns were not allowed to do. One of the things that I remember most about his unique teaching abilities was how he blended modern music into our education. How unheard of in that day and age...especially at a Catholic (or as they called it then: Separate) School. I remember learning all about Jesus Christ Superstar and thinking how cool it was to twist the ancient words of the gospel in with music of the era. I also remember listening to the Rolling Stones song Brown Sugar and trying to interrupt the lyrics. Perhaps this man was the one who developed my intense craving for music? 

So getting back to Andy...he had moved out West when most of my friends from the area did and I don't think I have seen him since. It is ironic that was our (Billy's and mine)plan as well! Bill's Mom asked if we could get married before we flew the coup, so I asked Bill to make an honest woman out me and we got married 6 months later. By that time, Bill had a good paying job with his brother in an auto parts store and I had started my short lived career in radio. This was our reasoning for staying 'at home'. As I said to Andy last night, I didn't think I had a choice to leave Bath :) My grandparents and parents worked so hard to make our village a better place to live...someone had to stay to enjoy these virtues. Many times I wonder what life would have been like had we moved out West.  Would I have come back 'home' often? Would my hometown be a place I would have been so proud to be from? Would we have still had only one child? Would I still have been working in the radio business and would Billy have found his fame and fortunate in the oil fields? Maybe I would have crossed paths with Andy sooner, instead of later. 

As we chatted last night, I asked him about his life & what it was like living so far from 'home'. He mentioned how proud he was of his wife and children & that the prairies were 'home' for his wife. That was when he said how lucky *I* was to still be here...still able to take in the beauty of great lake every day and the ability to stay in close contact with those we had known since childhood. I have to agree, he had a point. I spend every weekend with those I have known forever. So as Andy gets ready to travel back to his home, I will think of him fondly and hope his short trip 'home' was rewarding and filled with pleasant memories of a childhood in a much different world than we live in today! Thanks for the memories Mr McG :)

2012 - almost 1/6 completed.

And this is my first blog of the year. I have no excuse as I have completed nothing since the xmas holidays. In fact, I have been quite a sloth. This must change. Perhaps I am stretching the truth somewhat. I have fulfilled my requirements of the United Way Citizen Advisory Committee in the past month. So that is something. A LOMA course through work has also commenced and I will be starting a French course soon. Oh yes, and I forgot that I have set a schedule for my return to CJAI in May. (hint hint Jim Elyot, Greg Hunter & Chris St Clair) Next on the agenda is buying a new bathing suit and pool membership and get my body moving again. We have taken the plunge and become pet owners again. We adopted a 7 month old kitten named Cindy Lou and she has already developed the same kleptomaniac ways that our last cat Jethro had! We are so happy to be a complete family again. It seemed empty without a feline in the house. This winter has been an odd one. The North Channel froze for less than 48 hours and the geese, ducks, swans and seagulls are still hanging around like its mid October. In fact, why we dragged the dock and the boat out of the water still doesn't make sense. The count down is on for summer holidays. I have all but one day booked and cant wait to start on the May 24 weekend! There are many that have to travel down south to make it through the winter, I wish to spend my money here at home. And besides, I can barely keep up to my property taxes so I cant afford a trip down South:) Enjoy the long weekend everybody. I plan on studying and relaxing. Isn't that what family day is all about?