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“In 2019, I’d like . . . [1]

In 2019, I’d like . . . . to be alive, healthy and remain cancer free.  This first sentence had stayed with me for the past few days.  I just could not get past it.

That is, until yesterday morning when I was talking to a good friend whose 96 year old father-in-law had just died.  If ever there was a person who exemplified “God’s greatest glory is man (woman) fully alive”, it was Henry.  No matter how complicated or mundane the task was, he put his whole heart and soul into it.

When you were with him, he gave you his full attention.  There was no one else in the world for him at that moment.

He faced facts quite realistically, but always with grace and humour.  One day he said to me, “I find that the older I get, the more I supervise.”

His relationship with his grandchildren was a joy to behold.  In fact, the last conversation he had, just a few hours before he died, was with one of his granddaughters.

The door to his home and to his heart was always open.  Not only did he welcome you, but you became a part of him, a part of his extended family.

And so to honour Henry, I will amend my first sentence .  In 2019, I’d like to be alive, fully alive, fully open to all the possibilities the new year will bring.