The Cycle Of Life

On Wednesday morning, one of my neighbors mentioned at the local bagel place, that she is preganant. She told me that related to my having a chopped liver sandwich on a bagel. She commented that even smelling it would likely make her sick. That afternoon, I arrived home and saw police at my next door neighbor's house.On stopping in, I found that my neighbor passed away. I've spent a fair amount of time trying to make sure that his wife is coping OK. When I had arrived, the son of a family friend was there. His mother, who no longer lives in the area, arrived with her daughter, who she was visiting, a few hours later. The memorial service will be on Sunday.
I had written about this neighbor before. He was trained as an engineer, and had been battling emphysema for about 30 years. He took an active role in its management, and exercised when possible to keep his lung function the best it could be. For the last 2 years or so, he'd been also doing battle with prostate cancer. The big problem for the last half-year seemed to be keeping medications in balance. His quality of life was pretty compromised.
He passed while dozing in the afternoon, without a sound. By the time I arrived, the first aid squad had gone. It took a few hours for the funeral home to arrive to take away the body. It was a bit surreal, having nis body lying there on the living room floor. While he had been covered, at one point, the cop who was there uncovered him to remove the defibrillator and EKG pads and left him uncovered.
Regardless, I was struck by the coincidence of learning of a new life coming onto our block and another leaving it. It drove home the concept of the cycle of life.

On a whole other topic, I got to the gym this morning. I did 30 minutes of walking at 4.5 mph and leg presses @ 190, pull-ups at 100, and 15 push-ups.