Life is fleeting...
After my visit in Montana, seeing my parents -- how they are coping with their health challenges, it's really given me pause to think how life is precious and how much I tend to waste it by being irritated by such stupid things. I recently found out a woman I used to know when I first moved to Houston has passed away of ovarian cancer last week. Someone sent a website chronicling her battle with the disease and there are pictures on that website that's really driven home how death impacts us all, whether we're in a gay relationship or not. I can recall this woman just starting to date her partner when I moved here and I'm sure that partner did not have a clue what she was in for, having her loved one die after only three years together. She was only 44 years old and the pictures are so moving, it's unreal, just seeing her in bed, not being the lively person I remember, seeing her partner being so strong and being a helpmate to her. The website even has a picture of her after she passed away and being carted away by the funeral home...it's just a stark reminder of how brief life can be. I just don't see how my own partner copes with all the health challenges she has had and continue to be loving towards me even when I'm being "bitchy" to her. I swear she knows all my trigger points and I can't even begin to shut them off so I can enjoy my life more. I look at my parents, still fighting after 50 years together...I told my mom I would think after 50 years she would have known by now to ignore him but he still "pushes" her buttons. But they obviously care for one another. Strange how relationships can make us into people we dislike but also make us into people we are better for being. Life is funny that way. I wish I could have the ability to give life back to my friend who passed away as she was too young to go and hadn't been with her partner very long and her son had just gotten married and she now can't see her grandchildren on this earth. I'm sure she will in heaven though. I'm so thankful for my son...he has really added meaning to my life and just simply being around him enables me to be a better person. Hmm....guess I'm rambling but death does that to me. I think I'll close for now before I feel like breaking the computer as it's thrown me off too many times this morning already :-)