OT: Life Is Short

[Guest guest]

Hi Chris, other good folks ..

 

Sorry to hear of your friend's death ... and of those others related.

But unfortunately, its a part of the circle of life. And we become more

concerned when those who pass along are young .. we feel that they have

not had a chance to see all sides of the elephant. But unless one is

ill, there's never a good time to go and sometimes when we're older and

ready to settle down its even less timely.

 

A friend in DC .. retired general officer, just sent me newspaper clip

where his 2d cousin and his wife were murdered in East Texas .. in a

nice quiet family neighborhood. The murderer was caught but that does

not bring them back.

 

This week ... one of the ladies on a list advised me that a very good

friend of mine (she had worked with him before) had died of a heart

attack in February. I've been bothered by this a lot .. more than I was

when my mother passed along in November .. and that bothered me a lot.

But she was ill and she was ready. Tom Ramey was not ready. Tom was 65

in February .. had started to draw social security in February. Tom was

married to B.J. for 48 + years. B.J. had been semi-invalid for the last

25 years or so .. Tom cooked and cleaned and nursed her .. and worked as

contracts manager for a number of companies. I met him when we worked

together here in Turkey.

 

Tom had a heart attack in the 1970s .. he survived it and seemed to be

doing well. In 1995, he and I and a couple of other folks climbed the

goat path to Nemrut Mountain in Eastern Turkey .. monstrous statues up

there .. some weighing over 40 tons and they've not yet decided how the

ancients put them there. We began at 2:30 in the morning and after a

mind-boggeling climb of an 8% grade on sliding rocks reached the summit

around 4 and was able to watch the sun rise BELOW US. Kurdish kids were

always there dancing around a bonfire .. and even in August you needed a

heavy coat as it was high and cold. That climb tested everyone and Tom

made it without any problems.

 

I pushed Tom to retire when he was 62 but he wanted to continue to work

and save as much as he could because he believed that someday he might

go before B.J. and he wanted her to have all the care she needed; which

was a lot. When he hit 65 he passed over to the other side .. and he's

now buried in Quantico, Virginia.

 

So I guess there's no good time to go unless we are very ill.

 

The older I get the more old friends I lose .. we'll all see it happen

in time .. unless our old friends see us go first. There was a time

when I thought a lot of accumulating things .. and I accumulated a lot

of things in my life. And I gave them all away. I have less now in the

way of material goods than I have ever had .. and it doesn't bother me a

bit. I look back and think how stupid I was when I used to spend time

collecting antique furniture and weapons and land and trying to furnish

the finest house I could have .. more than anyone needed it was. I had

it all .. and I gave it all away .. and I like how I live now. The

Lakota/Dakota believed that the measure of a person was not what they

accumulated but what they could give away. I understand their

thinking.

So .. if you're not a youngster and you have more than you need today ..

think about that. If you're middle aged and plan on leaving this and

that to your children .. why not give it to them now so you can enjoy

them enjoying it? Better this is .. methinks .. than the dispersal of

your property after some slickass lawyer reads your will.

 

Again .. Chris .. and other good folks who have lost relatives and/or

loved ones .. my condolences. And though it sometimes seems unfair, its

really just a part of the cycle of life .. and someday we'll be the one

who goes over to the other side. What we do between now and then will

be what folks remember. And what we remember is all we have left of

those we love.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch