Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Nurture Hope


A good man died last week. He died of loneliness surrounded by dozens of fiercely loyal friends, and a large gregarious family, and even though he lashed out at everyone who tried to help, we all still loved him.

We all knew he was in trouble as soon as his wife died. This former life of the party retreated into himself, and anger pushed out the laughter. Then his chronic illness began eating away at his still young body. He refused to listen when we begged him to take care of himself, and rejected all offers of help. Even when he finally agreed to treatment, he quickly cut the doctors off and refused further care. He went home to die, and in the end, he refused to eat or drink. After three days, his weakened body gave up.

I don’t like to blog about sad things. I do this to put positive words out there for you to read, but I have to find the kernel of truth to this. When his wife died of cancer at 48, the message to me was clear: don’t wait to live your life—do it now. This blog is one example of me doing just that, but this death is senseless. Like many I’ve talked to, I was angry—furious really—but that has mellowed and I have to stop to wipe tears away as I write this. So here is my message: nurture hope. No one can give you hope. We each must find it deep inside. Life is difficult and pain will come, but always nurture that spark of hope.

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