Say thanks.
Say I love you.
I had to look it up. Google it, to be more precise. This is what the experts say one should say to a friend who is dying.
And I now have another that meets the criteria.
Nobody likes this. It is hard. But it is one of those things in life that simply must be done. I would like to think we have a choice, but really, we don't.
Diane has been one of our regular spinners for a dozen years. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday she would dutifully show up, don her game face and go to work. She had a tremendous work ethic, a gallant style and a glowing spirit. And now she faces cancer head on. It is inoperable. Speaking with her husband today it seems that she is slipping into coma. So this visit needs to happen tomorrow.
I miss her already. Tomorrow I plan on putting a red ribbon on her favorite bike and have all the others sign a card that I will deliver, a chore which I will do, as the least I can do.
Ya know when they say that life is short? Her 71 total, and especially the last 12 years, came and went in the blink of an eye.
I feel moved to recognize that this will be something I must transcend, as we all age up. This mortality thing, an afterlife? our frail nature, cancer, hospitals, drugs. I am not a fan. But I am human and this fate awaits us all.
The ancients tell us that life is suffering. Surely they must be understating to lessen the emotional impact. One day we will all be here. What to say?
Ask for forgiveness.
Say thanks.
Say I love you.
The above picture shows Diane in black, left rear, racing with Bob, Laura and Tony in 2013. Ride on my friend, ride on.
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