56 YO friend in hospice

[quilter]

I received heartbreaking news today. A wonderful man I know had a cardiac event followed by a massive stroke and is now in hospice. He is just the kindest, gentlest person you could ever meet. His SO is at his side, distraught beyond words.  He was active, physically fit and surrounded by good people.

These kind of reminders send us the clearest message of all.  It is not a our accumulating more stuff, having the newest car, or biggest house but it is about people. Spend quality time with the ones that are the most important to you. Make every day count.

Life can be taken from us in a flash, leaving behind memories.  We all need to make sure the memories we leave behind reflect our generosity and love to those who mean the most to us.

[train_writer]

I am sorry to hear about your friend, Quilter. Wishing you strength in this hard time.

And indeed, a sad but good reminder

[G-dog]

So sorry about your friend - it is events like these that foster my desire for FI.  I hope he can recover, and at least he, and his family and friends can cherish the remaining time together and find peace.


In a round of political BS at work, our group leader got demoted - they thought she would indignantly quit or retire and make their life easy. But she had a plan to hit some financial/pension targets and stuck it out a few more years before retiring.  She was also going through some health issues at the time. And her husband had lost his job a few years earlier and had his own health issues.
So, she retires, they move close to their kids and grand kids, they travel. And her health gets worse, and she passes away less than 5 years after retiring!  So sad, and another important reminder to me that - my employer feels no sense of 'loyalty' to me, and I am not working this hard to go out of work feet first!

[quilter]

So sorry about your friend - it is events like these that foster my desire for FI.  I hope he can recover, and at least he, and his family and friends can cherish the remaining time together and find peace.


In a round of political BS at work, our group leader got demoted - they thought she would indignantly quit or retire and make their life easy. But she had a plan to hit some financial/pension targets and stuck it out a few more years before retiring.  She was also going through some health issues at the time. And her husband had lost his job a few years earlier and had his own health issues.
So, she retires, they move close to their kids and grand kids, they travel. And her health gets worse, and she passes away less than 5 years after retiring!  So sad, and another important reminder to me that - my employer feels no sense of 'loyalty' to me, and I am not working this hard to go out of work feet first!

Yes, working for more "stuff" we have been brainwashed into thinking we need can shackle us to a job. Of course we need food, reasonably safe shelter and some decent shoes and clothing but I can almost bet we all have lots of stuff we worked hard to pay for we don't need.

I have such a heavy heart and sadness.

[oldtoyota]

I am sorry to hear about that situation. =-( 

I am thinking of you and your friend and wish you peace.

[frugalamber]

I received heartbreaking news today. A wonderful man I know had a cardiac event followed by a massive stroke and is now in hospice. He is just the kindest, gentlest person you could ever meet. His SO is at his side, distraught beyond words.  He was active, physically fit and surrounded by good people.

These kind of reminders send us the clearest message of all.  It is not a our accumulating more stuff, having the newest car, or biggest house but it is about people. Spend quality time with the ones that are the most important to you. Make every day count.

Life can be taken from us in a flash, leaving behind memories.  We all need to make sure the memories we leave behind reflect our generosity and love to those who mean the most to us.

This topic is very close to my heart too; my 44 year old very active neighbour passed away one month back today. She was a very active regular yoga lover with a young family. She passed away when her spouse was away, a very normal morning making breakfast for kids. Gone with a massive heart attack. Really put life in perspective.

edit; spelling mistake

[Cassie]

Life can be short. Sorry for the losses.

[Annamal]

I'm so sorry to hear this.

[G-dog]

So sorry about your friend - it is events like these that foster my desire for FI.  I hope he can recover, and at least he, and his family and friends can cherish the remaining time together and find peace.


In a round of political BS at work, our group leader got demoted - they thought she would indignantly quit or retire and make their life easy. But she had a plan to hit some financial/pension targets and stuck it out a few more years before retiring.  She was also going through some health issues at the time. And her husband had lost his job a few years earlier and had his own health issues.
So, she retires, they move close to their kids and grand kids, they travel. And her health gets worse, and she passes away less than 5 years after retiring!  So sad, and another important reminder to me that - my employer feels no sense of 'loyalty' to me, and I am not working this hard to go out of work feet first!

Yes, working for more "stuff" we have been brainwashed into thinking we need can shackle us to a job. Of course we need food, reasonably safe shelter and some decent shoes and clothing but I can almost bet we all have lots of stuff we worked hard to pay for we don't need.

I have such a heavy heart and sadness.

Sadly, I think she kept working to make sure that she and her husband, maybe mostly her husband, would have the best post-retirement health insurance and other benefits possible for them. She was one of those stoic and calm nose-to-the-grindstone folks. I respect her choice, but wish she had had more time to enjoy the fruits of her/their hard work.  I think her husband started dating about a year after her death, which admittedly bothers me (judgeypants) and is totally none of my business.

[G-dog]

This topic is very close to my heart too; my 44 year old very active neighbour passed away one month back today. She was a very active regular yoga lover with a young family. She passed away when her spouse was away, a very normal morning making breakfast for kids. Gone with a massive heart attack. Really put life in perspective.

[/quote]

How tragic, and this is all still recent and raw for all of you. I can't imagine her kids having to deal with this while their other parent was away. Or the spouse getting the news while away, possible guilt for being gone, etc. you really never know what will happen.

[carozy]

Sorry to hear about your friend and the other stories on here.  Heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes are becoming known as the "toothless tiger" or "paper tiger" because heart disease is preventable and reversible with a low-fat, whole foods, vegan diet as advocated by a number of vegan doctors and vegan nutritionists.

Here are some good resources for your friend (and for anyone that wants to learn about heart attack/stroke/heart disease prevention/reversal:

~ The documentary called Forks Over Knives http://www.forksoverknives.com/

~ Dr. John McDougall's website and books http://www.drmcdougall.com (tons of great, free information, poke around his website)

~ The book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. MD

The movie Forks Over Knives is a very good starting point for most people.  From there, many people have changed their lives.

The diet to follow is not only vegan and whole plant foods, but no oil or butter.  That is important to the endothelial cells in the blood vessels (explained very well in the Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease book in the chapter about oil).

Good luck!

[quilter]

My friend passes yesterday. He took very good care of himself. Sometimes stuff happens