Death is a Constant, So is Life

An EMT at a senior living community: “I’ve known death as long as i can remember, it is a staple in my life, even now when i no longer have to run from it, it is still a constant. I grew up believing i was watching my mother die (the odds were stacked against her in a major way, but she beat them so far), year after year i thought it would be her last and i know someday it will be. I’ve watched more of my family die than still lives. Even in my work i am surrounded by it (EMT at an old folks home). Death is constant. Interesting note though…so is life. The living sit and look at the dying and think about what they would regret in that position…i didn’t travel, i didn’t have much money, i never ‘lived’, and on and on…but the dying, it’s so much different. They don’t look at what they had, the things, the trips, the money, they look at WHO they had, their children ‘did they do better than me? did i raise them right?’, their spouse, their friends. they look at the love, the kindness, their regrets are not HAVING more, it is almost always not loving more. Guilt they express over material things like money and house is because they wish they had more to give those left behind, not that they regret not having it for themselves but because they want to GIVE MORE. Money and possessions are anchors that keep you locked in place always looking for more, guilt is cement shoes keeping you drowning in fear and self loathing, worry and doubt. I’ve known the wealthy to die alone, alienated, the only people bothering to stop by are those looking to cash in with a grand final gesture, and i’ve seen those like your dad, working until the last, not a penny to their name but so incredibly loved and ultimately peaceful because they’ve done something to be proud of…they’ve made the world a little better just by loving and not neglecting their families and friends. All the death i’ve seen, all the endings, the heartache, the countless tears i’ve been witness to, it’s all taught me something i feel is very important….it is so much better to be financially poor and deeply loved and respected than it is to be wealthy and alone. Find your passion and follow it, and if it makes you rich, great, just remember, never put so many ‘things’ in your life that you don’t have room for the people. Oh, and as for your dad, he may have been a simple taxi driver, but maybe that’s where he found his peace, writing poems in his mind as he drove nameless faces to and fro until he could come home to the family that meant more to him than all the dollars and dimes in the world and seeing you doing better than him.. .that’s every parents greatest wish.”

From Reddit

Image from http://georgetwopointoh.wordpress.com/2010/01/


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