A Bittersweet Day in the Life

[rvwnsd]

This morning a colleague instant messaged me and asked that I call her. She broke the sad news that a former colleague has about week or so to live. The former colleague's liver has failed and is so far gone there is nothing that can be done for her but to keep her comfortable. This is on top of suffering a brain aneurysm last year and various health problems for the last ten years. It was a tough conversation to have.

 

That's the bitter.

 

The sweet part is the colleague who called me is someone I miss a great deal. We worked together in San Diego and I watched her evolve from a para-professional to one of our best business consultants who earned a Vice President title all while raising two boys into men, took care of her mother, and helped her husband deal with his dad. I missed our daily chats and it felt great to catch up.

 

Interesting how someone who was proud of her ability to make connections is still bringing people together as her life comes to a close.

[+ Just Sayin]

I believe many of us are at a point in our lives when this happens to friends and colleagues; and it does remind us to renew connections that have become attenuated; I was in a funk after attending a memorial service for a client I had known since the mid-70s who has been in and out of my life multiple times; as I was sitting in church, I was reviewing those times and it forced review of my own life during those times; it's all very sobering!