Last week one of our neighbors passed away. Terry was good friend and a good man who was taken very quickly by cancer. In a little over two months he developed an inoperable tumor that resisted any type of treatment and left him in horrible pain. It's a terrible loss but I'm glad that he is no longer in pain and is at peace.
Terry is the first friend I made when I moved into this neighborhood. He was a one man neighborhood watch and he really did take care of me. He questioned anyone that stopped by my house. When he hadn't seen me for a few days he would come knocking on my door to make sure I was okay. We helped each other thru times when we were struggling and celebrated good times together. I miss his laugh and his stories about his younger days. And I miss the kids he would shove my way who were really interested in going to college. He would sit in on our talks and if he didn't think the kid was serious he'd tell them to get the hell off my porch and quit wasting my time. But the ones who were serious came back again and again. I helped them fill out applications and thru the financial aid office. When a couple of them were accepted to college we all celebrated together and Terry was the hero because he pushed their sorry butts because he knew that they could do more and that they could get out of this town.
Terry was by no means a saint, but over the past nine months or so we had a lot of talks centered around viewing life and how to live it. Years ago he had a massive heart attack and basically had his heart rebuilt from various veins in his body. He's been on disability for years. His heart doctor told him that it was time for surgery again as his heart was only working at 30% capacity. This was months before his cancer diagnosis. Maybe that's why he became so reflective about life.
We both came to the conclusion that really what life boils down to is love. Loving your fellow man. Loving and forgiving, two of the hardest things to do, but both essential. And you can do both and have it reconciled in your heart or even let the person know, but they don't have to believe you. That's okay. People are skeptical. They always think you have an angle or that you want something. But maybe if the world could see it as Terry did, and as I'm trying to, things would be simpler.
