I think something that all of us on here can appreciate is the fragility of life. I know I have a new appreciation for life thanks to my stroke. Sometimes however, I think we need to be reminded. As I write this, one of my very best friends is lying in a hospital bed. She called me Sunday afternoon and said that her abdomen was hurting really bad and that if she stayed still it didn't hurt. She didn't say much about it, and I didn't pursue it because we changed subjects and never came back to it. Monday morning, I woke up feeling very sick and stayed home from work. Around noon, my friend called to tell me that she was going to the doctor because her stomach pain had gotten much worse. She was very concerned that it was her appendix. The doctor had a similar concern, and sent her to have a CT scan and an ultrasound. They determined that it was not her appendix, but a tumor on her right ovary. She had surgery today to remove the tumor.

Before my stroke, I used to think that me and my friends were just too young for tumors and strokes and other bad things, but I have learned that nothing is further from the truth. Life is so precious, and we should live it like every day is our last with no regrets. I know I am preaching to the choir here, and believe me when I say that I don't think I have stumbled onto some revolutionary new truth. I think I am really trying to make sure that I myself get it. To many times I find myself looking back and saying, "I shoulda'..." I don't want to be that way.