I'm back from Beijing and my brief stop in Tokyo. My trip, albeit a very short one, was interesting...it gave me a taste for more of both China and Japan. I'll not write much until I try to manipulate my photos so they might work on the blog. That may take awhile because it appears my computer has finally died...I'm using the computer that resides in the office of my favorite spouse.
I tried to overcome the jet lag blues by staying awake on the return flight, which got me home at 9:30 am, and then staying awake until an early bedtime (9:00 pm), with only a 2 hour nap to interrupt my 'awakeness.' Didn't work. I awoke at 1:30 am and could not get to sleep until after 5:00 am. When my alarm sounded at 6:00 am, I was dead to the world...my wife had to practically beat me about the head and ears to awaken me. I dragged myself out of bed by about 6:30, took a shower, dressed and went to work. There, I accomplished quite alot until I hit a wall about 3:00 pm...I finally left the office at 4:30, convinced I could not function any longer. But, fortunately, I found me way home.
During my time away from the office, I learned that an employee with whom I had been having severe performance issues that I thought were health related had an 'incident.' She fell in the parking lot, putting a nasty cut in her chin. Thanks to another employee, she was convinced to allow the paramedics to take her to the hospital for an assessment. Through a variety of manipulations, she was given a CAT scan, which discovered a large brain tumor. She will undergo surgery this Thursday, followed by 6 months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. I thought something must be wrong with her, physically, but learning of this was really upsetting. I hope she overcomes it. I hope I'm able to keep a position open for her to return to, but being a tiny company, that will be damn hard.
I finally read The Year of Magical Thinking on the flight back from Tokyo to Dallas. It gives one pause...it gives one encouragement to face reality and live life to the limits every day.
But it forces the reader to face up to things that one would rather leave buried in the subconscious. We're all going to die. I will die. I would rather not, but I will. All the people I love will die. I don't want them to, but they will. That's just the way it is. Some of us will leave just memories, some will leave a legacy. In the end, none of us will matter much. We'll matter to those close to us and will be irrelevant to those we don't touch in some way. Oh boy, how cheery I am right now! I am, in some odd way, cheery. I think positively of my organs being used to perfect a drug or save a life. It feels good being a donor. I hope my wonderful wife and fabulous family will permit my organs, skin, elbows, knuckles, and kneecaps, etc. to be harvested. Then, get the cheapest legal cremation available, then have a party to celebrate agnosticism and liberalism and wishes for the future. If only I could share in the celebration!
No comments:
Post a Comment