Happy Birthday To Me
Please enjoy the thoughts and musings of our friend, supporter, and long-time contributor Art van Bodegraven Jr., who passed away on June 18, 2017. Art was a prolific writer and had amassed a collection of unpublished blog posts he had planned to run well into the future. To honor his memory, we will continue to post these remaining blogs as he had intended. If you’ve been a fan of The Art of Art blog, check out our tribute.
As life's milestones are observed, I'll note that, in a couple of days, I'll be hitting the magic number of 78.
Rejoice, angels on high. The modern-day Lucifer remains among us. And, so it goes. There's no rationale for just hangin' around for this go-round.
As an unrepentant pancreatic cancer conqueror, I've necessarily got to deal with the side effects of successful surgery to effect a cure. It's not as simple as a nip/tuck solution that time alone heals; my internal systems are a mess, with a spleen the size of a football, multiple diuretics that no longer function as intended, an interstate highway solution of a lymphatic system that apparently goes nowhere in particular, and an impressive collection of esophageal varices that require annual attention.
There's no warrantee that ensures I'll get to 79, or even 78.5. I've got a better-than-even shot at making 98, with plenty of tread wear left on the critical organs. But, the days of knocking back a cup of kindness from Australia or South Africa are over, taking mileage off the biological odometer. These days, I'm knocking back mostly Fiji water, and am in the process of cheating death in another arena. With visits to the ER a primary entertainment, I can scarcely wait for the next chapter in my personal Book of Life to open up.
It'd be nice to drive, once again, and do the teaching/training project design thing. Until that day, I'll have to be content with writing and rousing the rabble. Be prepared to get roused …