We are all Fragile

Sunset at Newport Beach, Nov. 30, 2013

We are all fragile.

Just some of it know it far better than others.

We know it when we look in the mirror.

We know it when we slide a soapy hand over a lump that shouldn't be part of who we are.

We know it when we rifle through our archives of pathology reports and when we hesitate to open letters from our hospitals and insurance companies.

We see it in the eyes of others looking back at us

Some of it know it far better than others.

But some of us need a louder signal.

Some of us need to be yanked to attention by an unexpected lab finding or an illness that in our previous reality would have only been....

A minor annoyance.

An inconvenience to be ignored and pushed through.

And now, and now, and now ....... it casts long shadows that reach into places that only the darkness can see.

We all fragile.

Just some of it handle it far better than others.

We accept the wounds.

We are all mortal in the end. And in the beginning and middle too.

Some of it handle it far better than others.

Not me. I protest against the constraints or more likely try to blow past them at my own peril.

But we are all fragile.

Even those us who don't know it and those who don't want to admit it.

Even those of us who are not incurable today.

Even those of us who harbor no diagnosis today.

So it falls on us that we are challenged to work out a deal with our demons to temper our risk.

Because we all really know that we are fragile,

We are reminded must not waste a fleeting moment

Which is so hard when we are all so damned fragile.

On a personal note, I am sicker today, with a painful deep throated cough and a powerful sore throat. Started on Levaquin 500 last night. I will recover. 

I am not that fragile.