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:)