Sunday, 25 January 2015
The Naishional: LAZY SHIFTLESS ATHLETES
The Naishional: LAZY SHIFTLESS ATHLETES: August 18, 2014 When we were kids, it was often said that a messy room, appearance or desk, was an indication that we were ...
Sunday, 18 January 2015
I'M DYING OVER HERE AND YOU'RE MAKING JOKES.
My good friend Ed Fitzgerald is a retired journalist and TV news producer-director, who worked all over the world for Canadian and American broadcasters. He now lives in Ottawa on a comfortable pension and has managed to keep his sense of humor intact. We chat by phone a few times a month. He is my son Jon's Godfather and we are both privy to the machinations of our personal lives and history. The chats are always fun and serious. Ed always was a great story teller and insightful, so his narratives are revealing and funny.
This week we talked about our ages; I am in my mid 60's and he a few years older. It seems his passport is up for renewal and he was faced with a decision. Ed has had a few health issues and he is a cancer survivor. He was much braver dealing with and about talking about IT than I would have been. Now his passport is expiring and had to decide whether to renew his passport for 5 years or 10 years. The cost difference was not a lot, he said but; "I could buy a great bottle of Irish whiskey for the difference and if I die and waste that money, I am going to be pissed.
I laughed so hard I almost dropped the phone but then realized I needed to have a similar chat with my wife soon. I have a life insurance policy which is term and it comes due and must be renewed soon, my agent explained.The payments are reasonable and will increase depending on whether I choose to renew it for 5- 10- or 15 years. How long do you think you will live, my wife asked when I explained the dilemma. Thinking about Ed's reasoning I said"We are talking about a financial loss of a CASE of great Irish Whiskey and a CASE of Chardonnay, (her favorite drink) if I guess wrong," I replied. She laughed and said; " Go for 15. If you are wrong, I promise to use the some of the beneficiary benefit on the drink and share it with all our bereaved friends and family.
I don't know how the hell I got this old. Yesterday I was forty four and I woke up and I was sixty four. Like a Rip Van Winkle move. Now conversations are taking place we never would consider having before. Humor is a great way to go along with it but in you quietest moments, when you wake at four in the morning and your wife is sound asleep and you let your imagination go nuts; .Jesus Mary and Joseph how in the name of all that is unholy did I get here so quick. That's what I can't get my head around. My wife Jean looks like she is forty four still and I look Sixty four.
And it's not the God thing and fear that he'll be mad at me.(Although there are a few decisions I made that I might like to do over) If he is there; Well he is God and enlightened. He can't be mad at me for not knowing if he or she existed. I could hedge my bets and pray to him as Mark Twain suggested but I hate myself when I am hypocritical. My dad and I had talked once in fun about it all and he was a great faith man and loved his Catholic Church and all it's trappings, including the fear. It gave me pause but he promised me if he died before me, as was likely, he would try to send me a sign. He died peacefully in 1988 but no sign, except today when I step before the mirror to shave every morning; I see his face in mine and my eyes are his...
This week we talked about our ages; I am in my mid 60's and he a few years older. It seems his passport is up for renewal and he was faced with a decision. Ed has had a few health issues and he is a cancer survivor. He was much braver dealing with and about talking about IT than I would have been. Now his passport is expiring and had to decide whether to renew his passport for 5 years or 10 years. The cost difference was not a lot, he said but; "I could buy a great bottle of Irish whiskey for the difference and if I die and waste that money, I am going to be pissed.
I laughed so hard I almost dropped the phone but then realized I needed to have a similar chat with my wife soon. I have a life insurance policy which is term and it comes due and must be renewed soon, my agent explained.The payments are reasonable and will increase depending on whether I choose to renew it for 5- 10- or 15 years. How long do you think you will live, my wife asked when I explained the dilemma. Thinking about Ed's reasoning I said"We are talking about a financial loss of a CASE of great Irish Whiskey and a CASE of Chardonnay, (her favorite drink) if I guess wrong," I replied. She laughed and said; " Go for 15. If you are wrong, I promise to use the some of the beneficiary benefit on the drink and share it with all our bereaved friends and family.
I don't know how the hell I got this old. Yesterday I was forty four and I woke up and I was sixty four. Like a Rip Van Winkle move. Now conversations are taking place we never would consider having before. Humor is a great way to go along with it but in you quietest moments, when you wake at four in the morning and your wife is sound asleep and you let your imagination go nuts; .Jesus Mary and Joseph how in the name of all that is unholy did I get here so quick. That's what I can't get my head around. My wife Jean looks like she is forty four still and I look Sixty four.
And it's not the God thing and fear that he'll be mad at me.(Although there are a few decisions I made that I might like to do over) If he is there; Well he is God and enlightened. He can't be mad at me for not knowing if he or she existed. I could hedge my bets and pray to him as Mark Twain suggested but I hate myself when I am hypocritical. My dad and I had talked once in fun about it all and he was a great faith man and loved his Catholic Church and all it's trappings, including the fear. It gave me pause but he promised me if he died before me, as was likely, he would try to send me a sign. He died peacefully in 1988 but no sign, except today when I step before the mirror to shave every morning; I see his face in mine and my eyes are his...
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