When I met Jimmy for lunch because I was already upset, I didnt expect the lovely young lady falling out of the chair behind me to be more than an accident. It soon became clear that there was more at work. Her muscles seized as she had a stroke. Her eyes stared unfocused and she could not speak, but groaned as her body would not follow her command. One of the women with her proclaimed that she was extraordinarily healthy, she runs all the time. But the stroke that lead to the need for CPR didnt care. Much like my friend Richard when he went, she was happily eating lunch with her friends one moment and then on the verge of death in the blink of an eye. Im kicking myself for freezing and unable to do more than get out of the way for the people who seemed to know what they were doing as 911 was called. Meanwhile my daughter complained that she was hungry, and I was just appalled at the childish self interest. I was shaking and beating myself up for not being more useful, and here my child just didnt care that someone was dying before us. At the end of the incident 2 things became very clear. Death can come for all of us at any time, despite how pretty, healthy, or happy you are. Theres no telling which day will be your last, even if you do everything right. Secondly, anyone who doesnt think children are selfish, has never spent a lot of time around them. They have to be taught to respect others, to be kind, to care. Everyone comes into the world a selfish creature bawling for someone else to care for it. Some people never stop that. Some move way beyond that to kind and amazing individuals, and some may start out more compassionate than others, but they have to be taught proper behavior. Still beating myself up for not being more helpful. I guess we need to all take CPR classes soon.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 18:36:09 +0000
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