IN STRIDE

Sixty-five year old “Ken” suffers from lung cancer. His doctors referred him to hospice as his cancer has spread. Ken lives with his wife of fourteen years, “Missy”. He calls Missy his soul mate. They met years ago when Missy was friends with Ken’s younger sister.

Missy and Ken lost touch when Ken enlisted into the military and was shipped to Vietnam. Ken subsequently married twice with both marriages ending in divorce. Ken has three adult children who are estranged. He has had no contact with them for years. Ken takes all of this in stride as has no regrets about not having any contact with his children.

Ken and Missy met up again and were married 14 years ago. Missy, fifty years old, is devoted to Ken. They have a lot in common even with a fifteen year age difference.

Ken’s parents owned a local restaurant for years. Ken took over the business when his parents retired. They had three devoted employees who worked for the restaurant for years. Over the course of a four month period, all three employees left; one retired; one died and the third moved away. In the middle of all of this, Ken was diagnosed with lung cancer. Ken knew how hard it would be to find qualified replacement staff and, with his illness, decided it was time to close the restaurant.

Ken’s doctor offered him treatment for his cancer, which he quickly declined. He would rather have some good months ahead of him than extend his life with the side affects of chemotherapy.

Ken shares all of this without any regret or sense of loss. He sees each day as a new day. He would rather focus on what he has going in his life, than have regrets over some of his past decisions. His wife is in total agreement with his decision not to pursue treatment. They talk and laugh about the good times they have had and look forward to the day ahead of them.


IN STRIDE


He takes everything in stride.
He doesn’t worry about a thing.
He accepts what life throws at him
then continues on his way.

Even a cancer diagnosis
didn’t slow him down much at all.
He declined treatment options.
He wants to live his life to the fullest
as long as he can.

He doesn’t worry about his dying.
He’d rather focus on his living.
He sees full months ahead of him
not hampered by side affects of treatment.

He lost his family business.
Circumstances out of his control.
He has two failed marriages,
but now is with his soul mate.

He has no regrets, no remorse.
He appreciates what he has now.
Each morning is a brand new day
and no matter what this day shall bring
he’ll take it all in stride.