02 August 2009
Life Is Interesting
04/08/09 11:51 Filed in: life, death
Eight years ago a friend and co-worker of mine, David Gill, became suddenly ill. He was living here in Hamamatsu, Japan and teaching here at Four Seasons. One day at a riverside BBQ he told me that his back had been bothering him to the point that he couldn’t sleep at night. He asked me to take him to a doctor. I have a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon, so I took him in.
To make a long story short, his back pain was caused by massive internal swelling that had been going on for so long as to have caused non-reversable damage. He passed away two weeks after his initial complaint.
I was with him every day in the hospital as he couldn’t understand Japanese, and when the severity of his condition was made obvious, I arranged for his family to be with him at the end. Luckily they all arrived in time to see him in his last few hours.
I was cleaning up my e-mail just now when I came across these words that I had sent to his brother for reading at David’s services back in California. I’m glad I came across them.
“Life is interesting.” That is the last thing you taught me David. Not surprisingly, you are right. You were always teaching me something. How to think with a fresh mind, how to see with eyes made new. How to approach a problem as a solution yet to be discovered. How to laugh when I might really want to cry. You taught me these things and more. Without even trying, you taught me that life is indeed a precious thing, something to be cherished and held close to the heart. Something to be shared with others in any and all possible ways. Something that can vanish when we least expect it, but when the end comes, we can meet that end with dignity, as you did David.
Thank you for teaching me to treat each day of life as a new adventure, because, indeed, “Life is interesting.”
To make a long story short, his back pain was caused by massive internal swelling that had been going on for so long as to have caused non-reversable damage. He passed away two weeks after his initial complaint.
I was with him every day in the hospital as he couldn’t understand Japanese, and when the severity of his condition was made obvious, I arranged for his family to be with him at the end. Luckily they all arrived in time to see him in his last few hours.
I was cleaning up my e-mail just now when I came across these words that I had sent to his brother for reading at David’s services back in California. I’m glad I came across them.
“Life is interesting.” That is the last thing you taught me David. Not surprisingly, you are right. You were always teaching me something. How to think with a fresh mind, how to see with eyes made new. How to approach a problem as a solution yet to be discovered. How to laugh when I might really want to cry. You taught me these things and more. Without even trying, you taught me that life is indeed a precious thing, something to be cherished and held close to the heart. Something to be shared with others in any and all possible ways. Something that can vanish when we least expect it, but when the end comes, we can meet that end with dignity, as you did David.
Thank you for teaching me to treat each day of life as a new adventure, because, indeed, “Life is interesting.”
A Bus Ride
02/08/09 18:48 Filed in: travel
I’m on a bus bound for Centrair, Nagoya International Airport, to pick up my son Shingo, who’s been in the US for the last 3 months. With me are my two youngest sons. They are very anxious to see their older brother. My oldest boy stayed home to study for college entrance exams.
We’ve been on the bus for over two hours now, and the boys have been asleep most of the journey so far, which is good. Takashi, the older of the two, just woke up and asked why we weren’t there yet. A reasonable question as our itinerary says the trip should take an hour and 50 minutes. Unfortunately the traffic on the Tomei Expressway is quite heavy, and I’m glad we are not expecting to get on a plane, simply meeting someone getting off of one, as the folks in the seat in front of me look a bit nervous that they might miss their flight.
I hope it doesn’t take too much longer, as I’m getting hungry.
We’ve been on the bus for over two hours now, and the boys have been asleep most of the journey so far, which is good. Takashi, the older of the two, just woke up and asked why we weren’t there yet. A reasonable question as our itinerary says the trip should take an hour and 50 minutes. Unfortunately the traffic on the Tomei Expressway is quite heavy, and I’m glad we are not expecting to get on a plane, simply meeting someone getting off of one, as the folks in the seat in front of me look a bit nervous that they might miss their flight.
I hope it doesn’t take too much longer, as I’m getting hungry.