Want to know why I don’t take ANY days off. Want to know why I don’t rest, and never will? The answer is probably not what you’d expect. Its not because I want to be tough and its not because I think I’m tough. Nor is it an attempt to be someone I’m not. Truth is — its because of my grandmother.
We had spent around 18 months battling rehab facilities and nursing homes. We had dealt with endless doctor calls and appointments, funeral planning, and making sure her finances were in order so she could spend her remaining days in a suitable facility. It had been an unbelievably long year and a half. A swift deterioration of the woman who played such an important role in my upbringing and life brought us to the last place she would ever grace with her presence. It was the most stressful and demanding time of my life, and at one point, I thought this cycle would never end. I thought I’d be enduring this schedule for years to come.
December of 2019 eventually rolled around. More specifically, December 21st, 2019. It was a Saturday, and as usual, I was at the nursing home with my grandmother. She had not been feeling well and I thought this was just like any other day. I was feeling under the weather and went home late that evening.
I took the next day (December 22nd) “off,” and decided not to go see Gram. I thought her good friend Russel would be there, so at least she wouldn’t be alone, and I could stay home and “rest.” At the time, I thought that I should go, but I figured there were going to be many days in the years to come that she wouldn’t feel well. That Monday, December 23rd I arrived at the nursing home extra early to see her, at 6:00 am. I found her body, the vessel that once held her unbelievable spirit, at 6:05 am.
It sounds so cliché to say — that you should never take anyone (or anything) for granted because you never know what the next day might bring. As I see it, we are going to be buried in a pine box in the ground for ALL ETERNITY. The next time I have a choice between ‘resting’ and ‘taking it easy,’ or spending time with the ones I love, it will be a no-brainer. I don’t need rest, and I never will — I’ll be resting permanently before I know it.
“Rest at the end, not in the middle” Kobe Bryant quoting his high school English Teacher Mr. Fisk
