Friday, March 29, 2002
LOOKING AT LIFE BACKWARDS (AND THEN FORWARDS)
I read in the newspaper today about one of my former patients who died yesterday. He was a famous director, writer, producer of movies spanning the 1940s to early 1980s named Billy Wilder. Unfortunately, by the time I get to see most of my patients, old age has worn their bodies and minds away and the person I'm meeting is not really the person everyone reads about in the papers. So, I have to piece their lives together backwards. I worked with Mr. Wilder tons of times, but it became increasingly difficult because of the physical pain he was experiencing. So, I had to find out things about his amazing life by reading about it in the obituaries. How ironic! Like most patients, I meet them at the end of their lives and have to find out about their beginnings after they're gone. It's weird to get to know someone like this, but I guess that's the nature of the job.
I guess I'm thinking about all this because I just finished reading the book, "Tuesdays with Morrie" about a journalist who returns to visit his ailing former professor for 13 consecutive Tuesdays until his death from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It's a real easy-to-read page turner that made me think a lot about how we should all be living our lives, except that our society and our perceptions don't really allow us to because we think we have to make more money, have more things, improve our status. And I'll be the first to admit that those are real issues for me. I'm struggling everyay to find the balance between spending quality time loving God and loving people while still earning a decent paycheck that will allow me to support a family.
But I guess when it's all said and done, I wonder what they'll say about me in my obituary. After I die, I want some young physical therapist to read about me in the newspaper and say, "Man, what a life he had! This guy really, truly loved God and loved people."
I read in the newspaper today about one of my former patients who died yesterday. He was a famous director, writer, producer of movies spanning the 1940s to early 1980s named Billy Wilder. Unfortunately, by the time I get to see most of my patients, old age has worn their bodies and minds away and the person I'm meeting is not really the person everyone reads about in the papers. So, I have to piece their lives together backwards. I worked with Mr. Wilder tons of times, but it became increasingly difficult because of the physical pain he was experiencing. So, I had to find out things about his amazing life by reading about it in the obituaries. How ironic! Like most patients, I meet them at the end of their lives and have to find out about their beginnings after they're gone. It's weird to get to know someone like this, but I guess that's the nature of the job.
I guess I'm thinking about all this because I just finished reading the book, "Tuesdays with Morrie" about a journalist who returns to visit his ailing former professor for 13 consecutive Tuesdays until his death from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It's a real easy-to-read page turner that made me think a lot about how we should all be living our lives, except that our society and our perceptions don't really allow us to because we think we have to make more money, have more things, improve our status. And I'll be the first to admit that those are real issues for me. I'm struggling everyay to find the balance between spending quality time loving God and loving people while still earning a decent paycheck that will allow me to support a family.
But I guess when it's all said and done, I wonder what they'll say about me in my obituary. After I die, I want some young physical therapist to read about me in the newspaper and say, "Man, what a life he had! This guy really, truly loved God and loved people."
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]