People are more health-conscious than we think. I kept a log in my head for the last week or so. I haven't run into a single person who isn't making an effort to live a healthier life. As diverse as we are, so are our life styles. So my effort to be healthy might be more intense and more flimsy than somebody else's. But it's an effort, non the less.
I was surprised by the amount of knowledge that some of my readers had. Granted they emailed me directly with their insights instead of posting their comments for the benefit of all future readers... I enjoyed reading them.
But can good health be a curse also. I see my grandfather, who at the age of 94, would like nothing more than to join his wife of over 70 years in the after life. Or is it to live that he wants? He goes back and forth. When he was young, my age perhaps, probably younger, he'd walk outside every morning, break the ice that had formed over their small outdoor pool, and take a dip. Ice water! He says it made his body strong.
Even until a few short years ago when his body started literally falling apart, he'd wake up at the crack of dawn, walk for two hours, take an icy cold shower, have breakfast and take a nap before starting his day. Then at night, he'd bike for about an hour on a stationary bike before heading to bed.
It is hard for me to see him so frail. I've never thought of him as old and now he's melting and blending into his hospital sheets... His curse is also his photographic memory, his ability to tell me a distant relative's phone number off the top of his head, the fact that he remembers what street his cousins and friends lived on when they were boys or how much a pound of apples was when he went to the store last month. His mind is intact; his body is not.
I asked him a few days ago if he was feeling alright. I sensed sadness in his eyes which is an unusual emotion for him. He is often full of life and humor. They were taking him from his room to a different part of the hospital to take a chest x-ray. He responded with a story. He said: "A man fell into a well and started crying out for help. Another man heard his cries, looked down and said: 'Hey, can you wait there for a few minutes while I find a rope?' The man inside the well responded: 'Well, what other choice do I have?'"
Well... what other choice... I felt he was disappointed. Less than 24 hours ago, his heart had stopped for a few seconds and the doctors were able to bring him back. It may be that he wants to go at times, but I think it is his will to live that has kept him here.
Ultimately, it is a blessing to be alive!
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