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The Same Age as Me
February 24th, 2009 | Stephen Bailey
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Joe and I grew up together, but we were never really close. We knew all the same people. Hung out in the same places. And yet I could never really call him a friend. Still, the news my brother sent to me the other day made my blood freeze. Joe was dead. He had a heart attack.
I've lost people closer to me to heart disease or cancer or whatever. Most of them were considerably older than me. Even when my friend Richard was taken at the age of 42 by pancreatic cancer, I was younger than him at that time. But Joe was the same age as me. Right now. Suddenly the idea that someone in their early forties could be snuffed out so swiftly scared the shit out of me.
A couple of months ago, I decided it was time to get myself healthy. And yes, I went to the doctor. I listened carefully as he poked, prodded and pontificated about my future. He said I was in good shape despite my lazy, complacent lifestyle. That, and I was "still young" so I had advantages others don't. So, I let my laziness take over and never bothered to call for any of the results. I figured, if it was bad news, the doctor would have called me. And then…
Joe.
Dead.
"Still young" doesn't cut it anymore.
The reality that this could have been me, that my heart could protest my lifestyle, is more real than ever. So I will call the doctor. I will find out line by line what my results were and I will adjust my life accordingly. It would seem that the old cliché, "life's too short," is not so clichéd anymore.
Related Topics: doctor, health, life
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Stephen Bailey | Comments Off
The Same Age as Me
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
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