Perseverance

Believe it or not I used to be an incredible whiner. I am about 100x better than I used to be. Now, don't confuse my life observations with actual whining. Whining is all inclusive of bitching and moaning with no real objective other than to perhaps be catered to or coddled like an infant. I've gotten better at seeing life in context by just looking around me. Submitted for your consideration...

Each and every morning since I have been amble I have taken the bus downtown at 7:45am. Up until about six months ago I used to see these two wonderful old gals on their way to the gym. They both were at least 80 years old and carried what looked to be very heavy gym bags. Four blocks from where I wait for the bus is an assisted living center which has a gym that I am assuming is open to the elderly public. I assume this in that the two woman always came from the opposite direction. Anyway, it was always nice to see them. They were up lifting. They always had broad smiles and very warm greetings. Then about six months ago I stopped seeing them. I wondered where they had gotten off to but, to avoid thinking the worst I just tucked them away in my mind somewhere.

Well, this morning I saw one of the women. I haven't used names here in that we have never properly introduced ourselves. As I waited for the bus in boredom I looked up and there was one of the women smiling as if greeting an old dear friend. "How are you this morning," she asked? I told her that I was, "just fine," and asked the same. I added that I had not seen her in a while. She then shared with me why we had not seen each other. She told me that her doctor discovered a large tumor on her right kidney in February. They had to remove the entire kidney she said. She also added that it had taken a lot out of her and that she had lost a great deal of weight. She told me that her doctor wanted her to gain a few pounds in that she was down several pounds. Even through eight child births she had never weighed more than 125 pounds she told me. This is why she was back into her gym routine. She had started back a couple weeks ago later in the day and had decided to return to her regular morning hours. What? You had a kidney removed six months ago, you are 80-85 years old, you walk a quarter of a mile to the gym with that adorable smile on your face! God Bless Her!

What do I have to whine about... nothing!