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Get busy living By Bill Wiegand #180584
THE ARRIVAL OF THE APRIL EACH YEAR REMINDS ME OF A COUPLE of things. Our memories of winter are fading quickly in our rear view mirrors with
any late season disturbances that may still pop up only serving as the annoying last gasps of the quickly changing season and doing nothing more than delaying the riding for those of us in the northern half of the country. April reminds me that I’m not getting any younger as I endure yet
another birthday. I’m not sure when “endure” replaced the more exciting “celebrate,” but a pair of aching knees and a sore back make endure the correct word for the job this year. I’m sure many other adults of a certain age share my feelings about birthdays and the desire to simply let them pass without any reminders from family and friends about our “special day.” At this point of my life, birthdays are just not special any more and I believe others would
agree that birthdays that bring you to a double-digit age that begins with the numeral 5 and anything beyond that rate far below other supposedly significant days we suffer through each year like April 15th, the day after Thanksgiving, the day of your colonoscopy (plus the night before) and all Mondays. Just as we’ve emerged from another winter, I think my intense hostility toward birthdays
shall pass one day. I believe that by about the time we close in on our 90th birthday, we’ll again have reason to celebrate. We may have no idea why there’s a cake in front of us or who all of the people around us are, but I hope we never forget how much we love cake. So, with a fire extinguisher nearby, light those candles and start singing. We’ve beaten the odds and from an actuarial science point of view, we’ve won! Until that day comes, we must heed the wonderfully eloquent advice of Andy Dufresne,
who told Red in the Shawshank prison yard, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.” Knowing there’s more sand in the bottom half of the hourglass representing my life than
the top is a nightmarish vision. What’s even more frightful is watching the sand fall knowing you’re in a race against the inevitable. In a way, I feel as though I’ve already won a small victory. Smoking, poor diets and genes
brought my mother and many of my cousins – all only in their 40s – into operating rooms for heart bypass surgery. My father suffered a debilitating stroke when he was only 52. He was seemingly fine one day but woke up the next morning unable to walk, talk or do any of the other things we all take for granted until the gift is no longer there for us. The motorcycle he loved so much, a tan 1975 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, sat in our
garage, reminding him each day exactly what he had lost. I was just a kid and while I could see the physical changes he endured, I had no idea of the mental anguish that was slowly killing him. It was ten years before we all said our final goodbyes to dad, but we all knew he left us much earlier. I think that one day I’ll grow up. I’ll get a haircut and get a real job. Maybe I’m being unre-
alistic thinking my best days are on the road ahead of me, but I’m an optimist. As long as I’m able, Advil will work wonders on my aching knees and sore back and a red XR in my garage whispers Andy’s words to me each and every day. Get busy living or get busy dying.
8
BMW OWNERS NEWS April 2016
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