• Me mom

    My parent’s 40th wedding anniversary is coming up next week, so I assumed I’d be making the drive up to Chattahoochee this weekend with my dad.

    But I’m not.

    My mother is being released to a local assisted living facility on Thursday. I’ll see her right here in good ‘ole Pinellas County on Friday.

    The place looks really nice – about as different from a state institution as you can imagine. It’s certified to care for people like my mom and it’s close.

    It’s been about two years. My mother is finally coming home. Several things in my life are gauged by my little dance with cancer, not that I think about it all the time. What strikes me is: my mother’s hospital stays started before I was diagnosed.

    It was a different life… not half as striking, but sort of like life before and after having kids.

    She still won’t be home exactly, but she’ll be here – she’ll be around. Part of that old life, before cancer created a new reference point, is falling back into the right spot.

  • Just passing through

    People come and go in my life, like passengers on a subway. We share a small piece of our lives until opportunity, circumstance, or chance steers us to another train. I’m used to it, and I’m not. I know it happens, then it does, and I get over it.

    I’ve been really lucky. It’s been a pleasure to share my ride with most of the people I’ve bumped into along the way.

    Pat was one of those people. She was an old hand when I started my career in state government. She was gracious answering questions. She was understanding when I needed to vent. She was my friend.

    She was my audience when I needed reassurance before delivering a best man’s toast. She was my accomplice when stress and/or a pizza jones struck. She was there with me that day in court when it was an effort to move, listening to second and third hand reports as the country pressed pause to deal with shock and horror.

    She retired years ago and we haven’t spoken since. The closest we’ve come is Christmas cards crossing in the mail. Many people have come and gone since, and I don’t think about her much any more, besides the brief updates around the holidays. But I am today, having learned she passed away on Tuesday.

    Its hard to say what I feel. She was one of the people who left an impression, even though we shared a ride for a brief time. But it’s not loss I feel. It’s not regret either. Life takes people in different directions. Friends come and go, even if it’s easier for me to count them all than some.

    Although I feel sad for the family I never met (it just seemed like I had), I feel thankful. I had a friend when I needed one. I feel hopeful. Every day is an opportunity to enrich someone’s life, no matter how brief the opportunity.

  • Bedtime thoughts

    Do you trust the health insurance industry more than your government?

    Really?

    The right spent the last thirty years (at least) selling the idea that government is the root of all problems, and they’ve made a killing. But ask yourself, has your government let you down that much? If so, have you ever called your representative in Congress or Senator to let them know? Have you ever written them a letter? Do you know who your representative is? Did you vote in the last election? Did you vote in the last election that didn’t involve the Presidency? Do you know who you voted for? Did you know who you were voting for at the time?

    Maybe it’s let you down because you allow it to represent someone else by default.

    Writing a letter takes a few minutes and costs less than a buck. Email is free. A phone call might take ten minutes of your time, and is likely free if you call their local office.

    Do you spend more time complaining about it than doing something about it?

    Some say you get the government you deserve.

    What kind of government do you deserve?