Your Days Are Numbered! Make Them Count!

[Nick J.]

I wanted to share a story with all of you that I'm sure you can relate to in one way or another. This will be more a blog type post and I'm posting it here simply because traffic is higher here.

What I'd like to do is see more of you participate in the Blogs section to make those posts more meaningful. A lot of crap gets posted there as cheesy solicitations but, I know Josh is working hard at improving that as well as other things on this amazing site. Also, don't forget to vote for this post if you feel it was worth your time to read it. You can do so by clicking the vote icon at the top right of this post :wink:

There is a man named Richard, known to me as Uncle Richard that is at this very moment lying on a hospital bed in Joplin Missouri awaiting his life to come to a peaceful ending. Richard is unaware of what is going on because he is heavily sedated and his lungs are only operating due to the breathing machine breathing for him, otherwise, he would have already made his passage to whatever lies on the other side of our existence.

Uncle Richard isn't by any means special to anyone else other than close members of his family. He hasn't created a cure for cancer, he hasn't had any real major accomplishments in his entire life. He has though, spent more than my lifetime taking care of my aunt Theresa. For that, he's considered a saint.

Not one time has he ever done a wrong thing. Not one day has he not completely given himself to my aunt. Not one single day. Until tomorrow that is.

See, tomorrow, Friday, May 14th of 2010, Uncle Richard will take that journey to what awaits us and he will no longer be with my aunt. However, that's not what this story is about.

2 weeks ago, Uncle Richard had no inclination that tomorrow would be his last day alive. What can you imagine he would do with his life if he did know? What would you do if you knew?

2 weeks, he had a doctors appointment because he was ill. Uncle Allen who was recently living with me here in Arizona for a short time but moved back (weird how things work out because now he is needed more than ever in Joplin) drove Richard to the doctors office where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. It is also the same day they found cancer, lung cancer to be exact.

Now that we know he has lung cancer and pneumonia, he was told they would need to treat the pneumonia before they can treat him for cancer so they gave him meds and sent him home. A few days later, he wasn't getting any better so Allen took him back to the hospital where they did further tests. They found a tumor in his lungs the size of a pancake :cry:

Now, here's the pickle. He can't be treated for the cancer because of the pneumonia. He can't be treated for the pneumonia because of the tumor. He can't be treated for the tumor because of of the cancer. Its 3 strikes, you're out and game is over. He's been sedated for 8 days now and has literally no clue what is going on and more importantly does not know that he will die tomorrow.

Why tomorrow? Yesterday, when Allen and Theresa visited, the doctor told them that there was nothing he/they can do because of the three strikes against Richard and they they had 2 days to say their goodbyes and get their affairs in order. Theresa is literally going to have to play God on her husband and pull the plug.

Uncle Richard, being on a breathing machine would normally suffocate(sp?) since he cannot breathe on his own power so instead, they're going to slowly turn down the breathing machine to where he would end up falling asleep and just simply pass away without ever being fully conscious or aware of what is going on.

Now, we all make that journey at some point. In my 7 years as a tow truck driver, I responded to more than I can count, fatal car crashes where they were killed instantly or while on scene. I've seen my fair share of lifeless bodies and if you've never seen that, I hope you never have to. It does something to your brain, it changes the way you do things. For me, I've changed a lot of things that my previous lifestyle would have certainly increased my risks of shortening my lifespan.

What has any of this got to do with real estate you ask? Well, for starters, thank you for sticking around and reading this story. I truly hope it hits home for you and you can relate to this as it is a real part of life. Also, don't forget if you haven't already to vote for this post.

This is my way of helping Uncle Richard and his saint like soul to live on. This is my way of helping you live ever single day as its your last. Two weeks ago, Richard had no idea this was going to happen. Do you have any idea if you'll see the light of day tomorrow? I know I don't.

For that, I wish, and yes, maybe even pray a little that you live your life to the fullest. I'm not talking about going on the skydiving before you die trip, or go on a month long backpacking trip to Europe. I'm talking about have the need and want to succeed at whatever is you're trying to do.

So what if you're broke or are living 'comfortably' from a W2 income. What are you going to do right now, later today, tomorrow, this week, next week and next month to improve your life as much as you possibly can?

Take this moment and control it! Overcome your fears. Ask that person you're scared to ask for private money for it. Ask that Realtor to send you this or that. Call a seller and get that house under contract!

I once heard someone say your life is only as meaningful as who shows up to your funeral. Richard will not have many people show up to his funeral. Take a simple mans life from little Joplin Missouri and make it your inspiration. Inspire to be great and you will succeed. Don't let the fact that you might fail keep you from failing to try.

Anyone ever hear Michael Jordan's quote about all his failures? How many game winning shots he missed? He was never afraid to take that chance and he's considered by most to be the greatest basketball player to ever lived.

Uncle Richard never played professional basketball and has certainly never met any of you but don't let that stop you from taking his life and the unfortunate ending of it and using that to realize how precious your life is.

Thank you for reading this. I sincerely hope it has some positive impact on your life. Our days are numbered, lets make them count.

[Mike McKinzie]

Nick
Wonderful story. If I may, I am going to use your thread to tell my story. First off, today, May 14, is my mother's birthday. But we buried her on Friday, May 7th.

Five years ago, mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, the tumor in her right breast was, the doctors' statement "as big as a man's hand holding a softball." She was given 3-6 months (this was 2005). 12 chemo's, 47 radiations and 1 mastectomy later, she was 'cancer free.' Fast forward to 2009. Mom is coughing a lot and in June, is diagnosed with Lung Cancer. Time for Oral Chemo Therapy but mom can't handle it and her body is too damaged by the previous chemo/radiation to go through it again. We got a call that she was rushed to the hospital on April 14 and flew out there. She looked all right but ill. April 16, the doctor's did a bone scan and on April 17, we were told she had "3-6 months" to live. She came home to be on hospice on April 18. April 19th, in the morning, she was talking like usual and in the evening, it was like her brain just turned off. Dad has Alzheimer's and he could talk to you better than mom could. Early in the morning on April 23rd, mom passed from this earth. The 3-6 months turned out to be 6 days. I am still emotionally drained.

But the legacy she left ties right in with your post. People think they have a tough life, mom had to bury her first born son who died of Leukemia at the age of 4, mom was 19. Mom's second child, my older sister, is severely mentally handicapped. But even though mom got engaged and married in JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL she got her Bachelor's degree in Nursing at the age of 31 and her Master's Degree in Nursing at the age of 41. After retirement, she taught illiterate adults how to read and worked with the mentally handicapped adult community.

Mom and dad also own 25 rental properties, and didn't start until they were in their 40s.

So to re-iterate Nicks thoughts:
1. Don't let a day pass without enjoying it.
2. Treat today like it is your last.
3. Even if you think you know how much time you have, you don't.
4. It is never to late to do something you have always wanted to do.
5. Let those you love, KNOW IT!
6. Your life is too short to have a place for hate in it.
7. Take the time to marvel at the insignificant.
8. Laugh, especially at yourself.
9. Smile, it makes everyone's day better, especially yours.
10. Why not?