Life Is Fleeting

We’re here…and then we aren’t. When we are children we look at the adults around us and we think that they are so old. But before you know it, we’re one of them. I lost someone today who was very dear to me. We were close as kids and as happens to everyone, life gets in the way and we drifted apart. But anytime we got together, we could chat for hours. I loved her like a sister.

When we were young girls, we were pen pals. We would write letters to each other about the boys we liked or what was happening with our friends or with our numerous siblings (she had six and I had four). When my family moved to New Jersey, we spent the week before we moved with my cousins, her family, and I went to her school with her for the week until I had to move to my own new school. This was pretty cool because I was in eighth grade, very boy crazy and this was a whole new crop of boys to develop an imaginary romance with.

When we became adults, she married very young and I didn’t get married for about another twenty years so our lives took different paths. We didn’t see each other much except at large family gatherings where it was tough to talk. But when we had the chance to catch up, the years fell away.

She was a very skilled cardiac nurse and the family caregiver to all the “older” generation relatives as they became ill in their golden years. She also tended to the rest of us when we needed her medical expertise. I wonder if she cared for the rest of us at the expense of her own health. She developed pulmonary hypertension (PH) a few years ago and because of her expertise, was an active participant in her own health care. She found a doctor with whom she was able to collaborate on her care and they made an indomitable team.

Sadly, a few weeks ago she developed an infection that she wasn’t able to shake despite several rounds of antibiotics. Some of the meds for her PH acted as an immunosuppressant and did not allow her body to fight the infection. In fear of the infection turning septic, the decision was made to temporarily take her off of the meds to allow her body to rid itself of the infection but things went bad very quickly and we lost her today.

I’m telling this story to remind you that life is short. Don’t put off living for the perfect circumstances because they will never be perfect and you may run out of time. Take the vacation, run on the beach, use the good china, tell someone you love them. You may not get another chance. Don’t wait for the pounds to come off or to get the perfect job or to find the perfect words. Just do it.

I love you Kathy and I will miss you forever.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.