a kick to the gut

one of my bosses died today. she was probaby somewhere between 48 and 52. it was a total surprise all the way around. she fell off a ladder last night and hit her head; her husband found her some time later; they took her to the hospital, and i don't believe she ever woke up.

i was shocked this morning since that was the first i'd heard about it. then i was numb the rest of the day. i told the husband i wanted to go out for supper ... out where there was a lot of noise and people and kids and life.

she was smart and sweet and strong and fair, and so very good in her highly-placed position. we are going to miss her an unbelieveable amount.

i'll pass. no, really.

this is a little spooky(as in, a lot). a roller coaster ride set up to deliberately kill you.

clever old guy

the husband has a friend who's dying. he's lived a full life -- teacher and priest, among other things. he's never married but has been active in whatever community he's lived in and is well-read and well-spoken.

the husband enjoys speaking with this man and, since he's 84 or so, enjoys listening to him talk about various things. he has a wry sense of humor.

he hadn't been feeling well and was determined to keep out of hospitals, so he hadn't been crazy about seeing the doctor. he finally had the husband take him and found out his kidneys are failing. since the dr. knew he wasn't having any part of any type of medical care, he advised him to go home and reach out to hospice to get the process started.

he's been pretty comfortable with hospice, but a little curious about the questions they asked him when they first came out. he figured they were trying to find out if he was gay. they asked about him never having been married and finally he said, "I know I'm not gay. I know I'm straight, but I've never had a woman interested in me. So I guess I'm kinda in between straight and gay. I'm stray." ...wry sense of humor.