Time Marches On
Well it’s here, the month of March.  I stand at it door. Even though my birthday is in March it iis a month that I am always fearful to see it approach. So many untoward things have happened in the month of March. Some of which I’d just as soon forget. With each event the anniversary is bittersweet and forgetting it would forget the ending of something important in my life. Although painful, forgetting isn’t an option.
My wife Cindy Morrison Beck passed away on March 25, 2003, twenty-one years ago. She was nearly consumed with ovarian cancer that spread throughout her entire body. It seems just a short time ago she was on a respirator on a hospital bed, in a battle for her life. When I say it was a blessing that she died, people think I am callous and uncaring, but if you have ever held the hand of a person dying with a painful form of cancer, you can understand, Cindy had no pain throughout her struggle. I consider it a blessing from God to have taken her home and freeing her from this disease.
On the third anniversary of Cindy’s death, my mom Sybil Miner Beck passed away on exactly the same day. My family was still reeling from the death of Cindy and then her mom Retha Johnson Morrison who passed away in between. It was an extremely difficult time. My mom had been suffering from the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. Her mind was slowly stolen away by this insidious disease. My mom and all five of her sisters were stricken with this disease. Her sister Violet Miner Bottomley died while talking on the phone to my mom. That event deepened the progression of the disease.
After a series of events that directed my doctor to probe deeper into my health concerns, I underwent a triple bypass surgery three years ago. I was fortunate enough to have the surgery before I had a heart attack and unfortunate enough to be in the hospital during my birthday. Happy birthday to me.
Well March is here. I wonder what the month has in store for me this year?