By Bill Yee
No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main… Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
— John Donne
As I entered the seventh decade, I noticed that I am attending more funerals than weddings or baby showers. Last year five people close to me passed away. I spoke at four of those funerals. These are observations that may not be really new to many of the older readers of The Rafu Shimpo.
This stage in my life is one of the passages. One door opens as another one closes!
Nobody can choose their exit from this life. Only God knows our expiration date. But what if you knew that date? What if you knew you only had three months to live? It would be like an episode of “The Twilight Zone”!
How would you spend those last three months?
Would you start checking items off a bucket list, with money being no object, and experience as much as you could in the time you have remaining? A cruise around the world? Skydiving or bungee boarding for the first time? See some of the wonders of the world … the pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China or Stonehenge to name a few? Perhaps a trip or two to Vegas with the hope of leaving your heirs a bigger inheritance?
Would you look up old friends or classmates with whom you lost touch?
Would you try to make amends? Look up the people you may have hurt in your lifetime to apologize and make peace?
Would you question your spouse or your kids to see if could you have done a better job as a husband/wife or parent?
Would you spend time with friends and family, just visiting and documenting the family history? Would you take inventory of your life victories and life failures and make peace with yourself?
Could you look back with no regrets that despite some failures you lived a life of integrity?
It is interesting that some people who are at death’s door don’t die with a sense of closure.
Think of the term “Rest in peace.” How many of us will pass with unfulfilled things that we wanted to do? Like Frank Sinatra sang in “My Way,” “Regrets, I’ve had a few…”
Finally, as you get closer to your exit day, will you think about life after death? Will there be another place you go after this life? All societies have this in their cultures. For those of us with faith in Jesus, will we go “upstairs” or “downstairs,” where the weather resembles Las Vegas on a summer day.
One of my biology teachers once drew a geological timeline of Earth’s history. Each period represented various ages … the age of the dinosaurs or the age when homo sapiens appeared, etc. He then went to the light switch and turned it off and on. That flicker represented the time of an average life span.
Our time is brief and my goal is to do good while I am here and make a difference. Not everyone may share that goal … some hope to amass as much material wealth as possible, others seek fame. But whatever your goal in life, do as John Wooden used to say, “Make each day your masterpiece!”
Bill Yee is a retired Alhambra High School history teacher. He can be reached at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.