33 Days of Lessons

On December 31st, one of my oldest and dearest friends had a stroke. He called the house, explained his symptoms and we immediately knew what was happening. We told him to take some aspirin and call an ambulance. He took the aspirin and then had a friend drop him off at the hospital alone. Hello??? He survived, yet it was a real shock to all of us.

Then, just a few weeks later, on January 29th another dear friend had a heart attack. This time we got a call from a mutual friend asking what to do. Go to the hospital! Immediately they did an angioplasty and inserted two stents. When we saw h1er that afternoon, she looked great….especially considering all she had been through.

If you looked at them today, you would never guess what they had been through. It seems as though they have both fully recovered, (or still are) but WOW! What a wake up call, not just for them, but for all of us who were paying attention.

In between the stroke and the heart attack, my half-sister fell and broke her leg…her femur. Following her surgery, she had complications with her breathing. You see, little Naomi did not know how to swallow correctly and her lungs filled with fluid. Soon she was on life support, and shortly after that, it became clear that she would never recover. As a family, we all agreed that taking her off of life support was the right thing to do. Naomi died just a day later on January 29th .

Naomi had severe developmental disability (It is no longer considered politically correct to use the term “retarded”.) At 39 years old, her life was not particularly long, but it was not a short life either. Others who had a similar condition had never lived beyond 30 years of age. It was certainly long enough for her to have had an impact on a number of people.

I tell you this because Valentine’s Day has just come and gone. Though Valentine’s Day is traditionally reserved for lovers, I think it is a good time to tell everyone you love that they matter and make a difference…while they are still here and before it is too late.

Telling people that we love them would be a great habit to have every day. But if you are like me, you may not take the time daily to communicate this message to those you love most and just assume that they know. If that is as true for you as it is for me, then I encourage you to use Valentine’s Day to get the word out.

In fact, if you are reading this, please know that you make a difference to me and I love you for that.

Participate. Make a difference. Live a life that matters.