Thoughts on the death of a friend & co-worker

I find it odd that I’m having such a strong reaction to his death. It was unexpected sure, but I guess I didn’t realize how much I liked him. Having worked with him I always knew that if the two of us were just hanging out in the bar we’d be great friends. Nice guy, salt of the earth and all of that. I’m sad for him, sad that he got treated like shit by our employer, forced into retirement and abandoned after 25 years (let that be a lesson about loyalty). I’m glad he had tons of friends, his restaurant and a nice family. He just realized how great the move from the employer was. Trying to get in better health, he had a massive heart attack at the gym. Wow. I’m not sure what to think. He worked all of his life and enjoyed retirement for almost two months. He probably hadn’t even kicked it into high gear yet, just thinking in a couple of months…or next year….

Lessons to be learned for sure:

Take care of your health, not later…NOW

Don’t slave away for any company but your own because they really don’t give a shit about you.

Be kind to people and tell everyone you love that you love them…always.

Don’t count on anything, tomorrow is not promised. Enjoy today.

Stuff doesn’t matter because you can’t take it with you.

Don’t spend your time with people you don’t like. Don’t spend your life doing something you hate.
Why work your life away to get more when you can have enough and spend time with those you love.
Devote yourself to leaving a legacy. Spend your time pursuing interests and really enjoying your life. Make the world a better place.
Do what you love. Life is VERY short, fleeting, a blip in time…make it count.

I think more and more that I shouldn’t keep spending all of my time in school searching for something that may not be there. I always thought that the only way to get ahead was school, but where am I getting ahead to? I don’t even have a final goal. I fear that I’m wasting time that I should be spending with my husband and daughter and could be used to pursue interests that would really develop into something I love.

And now I will indulge my love of quotes:

Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think. ~Chinese Proverb

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you. ~Annie Dillard

Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways. ~Stephen Vincent Benét

To always be intending to live a new life, but never find time to set about it - this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking from one day to another till he be starved and destroyed. ~Walter Scott

To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions. ~William James

Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses? ~David Brin

Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live. ~Margaret Fuller

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. ~Ruth E. Renkl

Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness. ~Jean de La Bruyère

The question for each man is not what he would do if he had the means, time, influence, and educational advantages, but what he will do with the things he has. ~Hamilton

R.I.P. Ed, you were a good guy and you leave behind many people who love you.

Quotes to Inspire

My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return. Maya Angelou

On the eve of my 33rd birthday I am melancholy. As I've gotten older, my birthday eve has become a time for deep reflection. I am almost always a little disappointed that I have not accomplished the things in my life that I would like to have accomplished.

Quotes to Inspire

My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return. Maya Angelou


On the eve of my 33rd birthday I am melancholy. As I've gotten older, my birthday eve has become a time for deep reflection. I am almost always a little disappointed that I have not accomplished the things in my life that I would like to have accomplished. It seems that I do a much better job of focusing on the things I have not accomplished than the things that I have. I think of my birthday as a sort of New Years Eve, a time for resolution, a time to move forward, set goals and become better.
This year I want to be a better and more patient mother, keep plugging away at my degree, eat healthier (this one is for the whole family) and work out harder. I want to sew more, read more, laugh more and spend more time playing in nature. I want to LIVE LIVE LIVE. I want my daughter to learn from me that life is fun and worth living to the fullest.
We are here for such a short time. You can't take it with you. I mean REALLY, I know we would like to be comfortable while we're here but you c-a-n-n-o-t take it with you. When you die there is no more fancy car, fancy clothes, fancy house. So does it pay to toil away your short wonderful life to obtain those things? I no longer think so. Is it worth a big fancy house for me to stick my daughter in daycare somewhere (that answer is no). Would I sacrifice my values for money? (again no)
So what is it that I want to do? I want to leave a mark, make this place better than when I got here. Save an animal, save a plant, save a life...or at least teach someone else to do it.