February 13: The newspaper story was sad and shocking. The 50 year old woman well respected and successful in her chosen profession, who had been ill had become very ill. The time horizon was very near.   The news shakes the very foundation. The doctor gives the prognosis. It is now a final reality. And so the mind races.It takes me back to an earlier day when a friend was following a similar path. Time is now to be cut dramatically short. The illness has taken over the controls of the journey. The direction shifts and the moment is now.
The phone rang. We were not home yet. When we arrived we saw the message light blinking. The message was short. His voice was shaky and soft.
"I regret what I did't do and didn't say more than anything else."
The line went quiet.
And so our climb continues. The choices are presented. Say or don't say. Do or don't do. Risk or don't risk. Sit or act. There is always the last prognosis…medical or not. Live so the regrets are not the haunting memories.Rather let the memory be that of an unstifled life.
Unstifled. That is a word we can enjoy living with. Unstifled is an ageless word.