Tough Call

I've reached the age where I'm losing friends more often than I'd like to admit.

A friend from my teenage years called and said that a friend we had in common was on his last days.  To make matters worse, this man's wife was also in the hospital -- not expected to live out the week.

So, I called him last night.  He's in Seattle, where his family can look after him.  He has Parkinson's and it has gotten worse over the past couple years.  He used to live in Sun City Center with his wife.  But because of his illness, they both decided it would be best to live near family/caretakers.

I think it was unexpected that his wife would come down with some disastrous disease that was essentially destroying her from the inside out.

So, when I called him, I let him I knew of his wife's condition.  We talked about it for a bit, and then I asked him about his outlook.

His assessment: He was a short-timer.  Those are my words, not his.  It's a military term indicating that you're not long for this assignment.

We talked ... and it was hard.

These are truly hard times.