The Walk of Life

Today is a very strange and unique day. It is a day where three people I know said good-bye to me! First was this grand old lady of 90 who was my neighbor next door. She suffered a stroke 5 years ago and literally bed-ridden. Sometimes she sat on her wheel-chair and took a glimpse of the world through the main door! I smiled at her and she smiled back and that was all we had in our relationship for she could not talk. She passed away peacefully last night and today is her funeral. I went over to pay my respect and said good-bye to her! She must be my oldest friend and now she is no more.

Then received a call from another friend that our common friend passed away at home. He was suffering from late stage liver cancer. Unable to attend two funerals in a day and moreover this friend is from out-station. That's my second good-bye!

Also same day, our beloved sister-in-law Florence, said good-bye to us but thank God she is only going to live with her daughter and son-in-law and her 3 grand children in the US and not going away forever! Our dear sister is such a strong, God Fearing woman. Her husband Phillip and son Stephen, had both gone to be with The Lord within a span of two years.

Somehow, deaths, good-byes cause a lingering sensation in your emotions. I become very pensive and melancholic but at the same time reflective on life and relationships we have had with each other. To me it is so very important to maintain a good healthy and meaningful relationship with all my friends and relatives for you never know when they say good-bye and you will regret for not saying something you should have said and they are no more! There is much wisdom to capture each and every instantaneous opportunity when we can say to each other what is in our hearts for such moments or snippets of time may never be given again!

Having gone through life for about 60 years, you do learn something about the differences between women and men. Volumes of books had been written about this topic and I am sure many of you might have read quite a bit on this too. It seems there is an endless discovery on the differences between the sexes. Through the years I have collected some amusing bits on this and would like to share some of them here. It would be good if you can add to the list some of yours!

1. NAMES

If Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara go out for lunch, they will call each other Laurie, Linda, Elizabeth and Barbara.

If Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy.

2. EATING OUT.

When the bill arrives, Mark, Chris, Eric and Tom will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.

When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

3. MONEY.

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

4. BATHROOMS.

A man has five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor a bar of soap, and a towel from the Marriott.

The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.

5. ARGUMENTS.

A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

6. CATS

Women love cats.

Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.

7. FUTURE

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

8. SUCCESS.

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

9. MARRIAGE.

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.

10. DRESSING UP.

A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.

A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

11. NATURAL

Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.

Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

What a coincidence that my sister tracy done a post titled Obey The Law on her new blog Much Ado About Everything. Three times a week I have to go through this stretch of road to send Rock for her physiotherapy. Each and every time, I experienced this lawlessness of haphazard, inconsiderate parking. At the spot where I have to cross the road, my view is very often blocked by a vehicle that parked right at the spot. I have to be triple extra careful and exercise Faith which means 'believing things not seen' and in this case believing that there is no vehicle coming as I cross!

After the dangerous crossing, I have to maneuvered through the narrow strip which was made narrow because of double parking behind the aloted parking slots plus illegal parking on another side.

Having done that I have to turn left and I have to watch out because my path would have been more than half blocked by another inconsiderate driver parking at a spot where no one should park!

Anyway, I cannot afford to be inattentive every time I pass this particular stretch of road. I am most fearful of the 'crossing' and the 'left-turn' for I can never see what is coming my way and hopefully when I do, there is no vehicle heading towards me!

Sunday is a day of rest for us! However this Sunday is exceptional and turned out to be quite busy. The usual morning Church but today we all had lunch in Church because following that was the Church's Annual General Meeting commencing from 2.00 pm right through to 5.00pm. Depending on the 'business' at hand sometimes or should I say in some years past it could go right up to 7.00pm!

While I was in Church, Rock had an accident. While going upstairs, she fell then rolled down the stairs for 4 or 5 steps. Thank God that she's fine except for a fright and a big swell at the back of her head and some aches at the hips and knees. All in all she is fine, no broken bones or fracture! After her fall, she sat on the floor for sometime and could not get herself up. She told me that she thought she had to wait till my return to help her up and that could be a few hours! Plugging up her courage and using all her strength she moved herself to a chair and raised herself up. Rock used what was taught to her by her Physio on how to get herself up in case she's down on the floor! Well, Rock learned well or else she had to wait for me.

By the time I reached home, she was happily at her desk in her bedroom upstairs again doing her 'Sudoku'! We had a good laugh over the whole episode. My, what a relief that Rock is not hurt or else her recovery will be further delayed. Thank God!