Life's Lessons

People living deeply have no fear of death. ~Anaiïs Nin, Diary, 1967

I was at Houston Hobby Airport on Tuesday travelling to Memphis. I always give myself plenty of time and was sitting near the gate getting my laptop out to answer some emails when a gentleman, looking a few years older than me, sat down next to me. He needed to use the other receptacle to charge up his cell phone.

I said hello and he politely said hello back. I say that because it’s amazing these days how some people will not respond. He saw Total Safety on my shirt and asked what our company did. After I explained our business to him I asked him what he did. He told me he owned three restaurants in the Little Rock area.

I asked him what he was doing in Houston. He told me he had come down to the Houston Medical Center for a second opinion. He had been diagnosed with a non-operable cancer and was told he had six months to a year to live. He has two boys in high school and his wife is a school teacher.

As he talked I thought about my Uncle Kenny who in his mid-50’s died within months of being diagnosed with lung cancer and the lyrics from Tim McGraw’s song ‘Live Like You are Dying’ started playing in my head.

One comment he made that has been on my mind the last five days was “You work so hard to get ahead you don’t realize how far behind you’ve gotten.” He was talking about how he focused on growing his businesses and how time consuming the restaurant business was. And even though he considered himself moderately successful he didn’t realize how little time he spent with his family until a couple of weeks ago when he was diagnosed with cancer. He finished by saying, “I always thought I’d have the time in the future.”

I am not one that’s usually at a loss for words, but I couldn’t think of much to say. I mainly listened, asked a few questions, and fought the tears back. What could I say?

It was time for me to line up for the Southwest flight. I finally introduced myself as Dave so I can get his name. His name was Bobby. I shook his hand, quietly said our good-byes and I got in line.

“You work so head to get ahead you don’t realize how far behind you’ve gotten.”