Yesterday a friend of mine passed away in the night. He was 54. He was an IT professional like me. About a year ago he lost his job and with it, his health care benefits. As time passed his financial status continued to decline as did his health. He eventually became homeless and sold most of his worldly possessions just to have money to survive. He lived in one of my spare rooms for a while until the faithful night that I had to rush him to the ER at 2am while he vomited up blood. He became too sick to live with me and migrated back and forth from the free hospital and his father’s house. Eventually, he was approved for disability as a portion of his illness was acquired while doing military service. He now had access to the VA hospital, and for a time it seemed like he was going to recover. One of my clients (who was also a close friend of his) owned some rental property and offered him a small trailer to live in. Shortly after he moved into the trailer he stopped answering his phone. Many people assumed that it was just shut off because he didn’t have the money to pay for it. After two days of not hearing from him, a relative went to the trailer and found him in a diabetic coma. They rushed him to the ER, but it was too late to save his leg. It was amputated just above the knee. Over the next 6 months he would battle wave after wave of sickness and infection. At times it appeared that he was on his way to recovery, then would fall ill again and end up on a ventilator in the ICU. It was a torturous existence. Several times while he was on the ventilator, he was conscious and aware of his surroundings. When he was not on the ventilator he struggled to speak, but was able to communicate to me that he wanted to live. Unfortunately fate had other plans.
My friend had a birthday less than two weeks before he passed. On his Facebook page several people wished him a happy birthday. I responded to them by letting them know that true friends would know that he was in the ICU fighting for his life. Many people said they were praying for him, and when he died they said he was in a better place. They were right of course, but not because we is now in some heavenly place, but rather because wherever he ends up has to be better than the state we find ourselves in today.
In 2011, we live in a world of fake friends, of people who don’t have care for the plight of the less fortunate, where everyone is out to get “what’s theirs” and to hell with anyone else. As the unemployment rate continues to rise and millions of people just like my friend are denied their basic human rights, the mega rich get to live in gated communities, taking advantage of all capitalism has to offer. The morality of the rich vs. poor in America has seriously damaged our humanity. Mean while, the general populace is brainwashed by talking heads, and media pundits, who have somehow convinced them to loath one another and vote against their own self interests. Why does the world have to be filled with so much hate and distain for our fellow human beings? Why does reaching out a helping hand have to be a chore for those who can afford it the least? When are we as people going to wake up from our “self coma” and change this world we live in?
Until the world learns how to love unconditionally (see chapter 7 of my book), I take solace in knowing that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, so hopefully that he will have better luck the next time around. Rest in peace my friend.
