Today is the last day my husband will see patients at the
clinic where he has practiced medicine for almost 35 years. When I woke up this
morning, I remembered when we began medical school and law school together,
about three months after we married. Somehow during that hectic time in our
lives, I never envisioned this day, 45 years of living later. We have had lots
of life transitions in that time, the birth of children, the empty nest, and
the birth of grandchildren, as well as the death of our parents and other
family members and our own health issues.
Still, this transition seems to merit special examination. It will be a major change in both of our
lives. A good one, I think, but one I know will take loving compromise to
navigate. I am feeling now something like the realization that comes when the
end of a lovely vacation is approaching, and I strive to enjoy each remaining
day, milking all it has to offer. I have no idea how many years the two of us have
left. That is in God’s good hands, and I’m content to leave the answer there.
What I do know is that my life no longer stretches endlessly before me. A recent
illness has been a timely reminder of that.
So now, in whatever time I have left in this life’s journey,
I want to savor each day for what it has to offer. I want to gather together
such legacy as I have to leave my kids and my grandkids and to clean out the
detritus of a long and busy lifetime so the important things are not lost among
those that don’t matter. My prayer is that I can focus on the clearing out and
then relax and enjoy the time left. I know that God will be with us in this latest
transition as God has been in the past.
Grace and Peace,
Donna
