Today I was reminded again to appreciate each day and to live each day to the fullest. Because today might be your last. It might be the last sunrise you ever see. The last time you smell honeysuckle or hear a bird happily singing and rejoicing a light rain. The last time the sun warms your tired and aching bones. The last time you're able to visit with friends knowing each day is a gift. Tomorrow isn't promised to us.
Today I was reminded how fragile life really is and how quickly life can change. Every Sunday our friends from just a few miles away come to spend the day with us. And when they left this evening, I wondered if this was the last Sunday we would all be together.One of my husband's closest friend has Stage 4 lung cancer, he's terminal. He's been under Hospice care since January.But he refuses to stay at home, waiting to die. So T , his wife and step-daughter come to visit each Sunday.
A few years ago our friends moved here from a neighboring county because of his disabilities to be closer to the hospital. Our friend has emphysema, crippling arthritis and Parkinson's Disease besides cancer. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last year and stopped treatment in November. There has never been a more honorary soul ever but a sweet man. He would do anything for my husband and I. His friendship is more than enough though. Each Sunday I quietly give thanks to God for allowing T to have one more week.
It's heartwrenching watching him slowly waste away and weaken from the cancer. His overall health made a drastic decline this last few weeks. The end is fast approaching, my husband and I both see it. He still finds joy in life and appreciates the small things. Just letting the sun warm his face, while the birds sing gives him peace. Or watching my husband plant flowers gives him joy. It's the simple things I'm learning to appreciate more because of him.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned since meeting T is not to sit back and wait for life to happen. Get out there and live it.
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