Wisdom

This is not the normal thing to be posted here; but I wanted to take a moment to reflect and show a sign of respect to a friend who had died. And, perhaps we can all take a lesson or two from a wise 'elder statesman'; someone who has been through it all before.

From: Modern Living ... http://sometimesontheedge.blogspot.com/2009/04/wisdom.html ...

Dave, my friend and bridge partner died recently, at age 92. He had suffered a stroke 10 years previously which had left him paralized and in a wheelchair. Although the paralysis was over his whole body, he did have very limited use of his right hand. He could not speak.

He had lived. He was a young man during the 1930s “Dirty Thirties” Depression. He had fought in World War II. He had married and raised a family. During his working career he worked in 'electronics'; through tube radios, then radar to computer chips. In other words, he had a wealth of wisdom to impart.

We were able to bid and play bridge with the help of some assistive devices. He was by far the best player in our group. He always had the kindness and patience to teach beginners.

He had become computer literate, and used the 'hunt and peck' keyboard method with the limited use of his right hand. He composed articles, wrote correspondence and emails, and kept in touch with friends. Those of us who were more 'able-bodied' were amazed at the amount of effort and time that he put into work.

He was a true inspiration to us all with his Gaelic sense of wit, irony, and wry humor. That was with him until the end of his life.

We were all very saddened with his loss. That was partially because he brought such happiness and joy to all of those around him. Indeed, he provided hope and inspiration for younger people hoping to learn to grow older gracfully.

It was his material, and with his permission, that we began a series of posts called “Dave Sez”. There will be more posts scheduled for the 1^st day of following months, but some of those posts from past months are here:

• How To Plant Your Garden from July, 2008

• Things Have Changed from August, 2008

• Why Ask Why? from September, 2008

• Inner Strength from October, 2008

• Playing With Words from November, 2008

• Food For Thought from December, 2008

• Trivia from January, 2009

• Ponderables - post 1 from February, 2009

• For Lexophiles from March, 2009

• Today's Stock Market Report from April, 2009