Life is short. You hear this all the time. If you're like me, you think about it for a few moments and then you're rushing off somewhere and it's too soon forgotten.
In February I was at my annual check up with my oncologist. Sitting in the waiting room I saw a familiar blonde headed girl. I saw her husband sitting next to her and immediately knew her husband was the reason for their visit. It's the one place you DON'T want to run into anyone you know. I found out he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in November. Within months he was in the last few days of his battle, fighting a hard, good fight. Last night we paid our respects to a wonderful man and tried our best to comfort his amazingly strong wife. I was surprised to see a smile on Sabrina's face at times, I was inspired by her strength, I know it was her gratitude of people coming to celebrate Jim's life and support her. Jim was a kind and caring man and I know he is at rest now. I pray for comfort for his wife. He was only 36. If you want to help support his wife, you can visit their site.
As Brian and I drove out to Fortville for the viewing, we drove along a lot of the roads I ride when I'm gone for hours. In a small way it was a chance to bring my good friend along on my journey to Ironman.
Like two kids bored only days into summer, we have both been really bored and feel like we need to be doing different things. When we hang out we usually go to dinner, the same old chain restaurants. We usually rent movies or watch tv. Very much in a rut. So we decided to start our summer of doing things different last night in honor of Jim and his life. We went to a small town diner and talked about the projects we worked on with Jim as part of the Jaycees.
On the way home I found myself driving more of my bike route. Then it hit me "holy shit, I'm a cyclist!" I knew this because at that moment, I was longing for my bike, to be in the saddle, hugging the curves of the road.
We drove in silence, taking in the music and the cornfields. The sunset was beautiful. It was a perfect evening for a drive in the country. Ordinarily we would have gone straight home from dinner, watched tv, then I would leave so I could get to bed and prepare for the next day. But tonight we just savored the evening. We then started car dancing and laughing. I felt so alive in such a simple moment.
On this 50 mile drive, following my bike route through Cicero, Morse and then downtown Noblesville we found several places we wanted to visit. Small diners and dives. We passed a playhouse and both commented that when we drive by we both think "I want to see a play there sometime." Brian laughed, it's funny what we learn when we communicate. So our "we're bored" summer list has grown with lots of things to do.
I realize that life is all about choices. Find the silver lining in a cloud. Take inventory of your gratitude and spend more time celebrating that than being angry. We all have a choice to be happy in any situation. Just like Sabrina's smile during probably one of the most difficult times in her life. It was extremely sad to say goodbye to Jim last night, however, the silver lining was the evening helped me to see that life really is short and you can't let "life" get in the way of living.
As I drove back to my house the song "Send me on my Way" came on and I thought what perfect timing. Bless you Jim, you're on your way.