Doctor's visit

I was at the hospital early to sign up for the 9:00 A.M. check-up. While there, I met my sister-in-law and brother. Surprise! We got to talking about school and job. I am the fourth patient for the day. Not bad huh!

By 9:30 A.M., I drove back to the hospital for the actual check-up. Like in the past, I had to wait. It is past 11:00 A.M. now and I am still waiting. To optimize my time, I communicated with some important people via text. When I was done with that, I played card via my laptop. When I was done with card playing, I started writing this blog.

For a few seconds I was thinking what to write about, then I thought the best item to write is my doctor's visit. It's fresh. It's new. It's real.  

I started to think about why many people are afraid to see their doctors. For some, if not for most, they are scared to know that they are sick. Sickness like death is one scary occurrence in life. Having lost both parents to cancer, I thought for some time that the same illness would claim my life. After mother’s death, I was traumatized for a while. I had this nagging fear that very soon I will follow. I got over the fear, thank God.

When father died in 2009, I was no longer afraid of cancer. I have come to terms with dying. It is an eventuality no one can escape. It happens to everyone: rich, poor, good people, bad people, slaves, tyrants, adults, kids, old people. There is no exception. The earlier we come to terms with the reality that death is a natural part of living, the sooner we overcome our fear and get on with life. 

             

 Finally, my name was called. Ah, the rewards of blogging. 

The light turned red

       Interesting discussion I had with my teenagers. We attended a funeral mass this morning in honor of their grandmother. Following the mass, we tagged along the hearse.

      

      While stopping on a red light, my teenagers who were talking about the number of people who paid their last respects to their grandmother suddenly said, what if you died Mi (short for Mommy)? You will have throng of people paying their last respects for you. My other teenager said, yes, the Army and Police will be there including those you have served. Then, my other teenager said, maybe they will honor you with a 21-gun salute.

      

      I said maybe. However, I will be buried in Bohol. If I’m here at the time of death, I will have some days for funeral here but I have to be buried in Bohol. However, if I’m in Bohol at the time of death, I won’t be brought here anymore.

      

Then, the green light went on, and the drive continued.

      

I think that the way I openly talked about death with my teenagers have allowed them to look at death differently. It’s not something that we should be afraid of. It’s a natural occurrence of life.

 Food for thought: I've told my children that when I die, to release balloons in the sky to celebrate that I graduated. For me, death is a graduation. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross