Does everyone realize how easy it is to complain during this time of economic troubles? You hear it all the time - my 401K is now a 201K. My hours have been cut. My pay has been cut. My dreams of retiring are over.
OK, we are all guilty of complaining sometimes (although I haven't heard too much grumbling about the weather we have been having.) So why am I bringing this up tonight on this beautiful 70 degree day? Because I just got back from the wake of a high school classmate, Randy Zahler. He was just 42 years old. No, his death wasn't from an accident or suicide or anything like that. Randy had Lupus.
Lupus is a hard disease to treat but Randy braved it the best he could. He had symptoms and problems for nearly twenty years, soon after he served 7 years in the army right out of high school. In addition, he and his wife had to deal with the death of their two kids to similar complications. Not only was his life cut short but his quality of life was terrible. He had to fight infections constantly and was hospitalized many times. The disease took a terrible toll on him, and the pictures showed the gradual degradation. The gray haired man in the casket looked to be 80 years old, but it was indeed Randy.
So the next time you are battling a kettlebell during a five minute snatch test or are at rep 16 in a grueling 20 rep squat set, remember how lucky you are that God gave you the strength and health to give it all you got. That is a tremendous blessing, one that my longtime classmate could have only dreamt about.
Randy Zahler
STMA class of '85
1966-2009
RIP
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