What makes me sad today?
Recently, I felt very sorry to hear that one of my university friends living in the States suddenly died from car accident. Even though we were not close friends, I still remember his bright smile.
When we reached the retiring age, my friends started to show a sudden decline of health suffering from all kinds of diseases. Mr. S went through by-pass surgery in the heart. According to his wife, “If he had arrived at the hospital a little later, he would not be with us.”
Mr.L“s case is the most outrageous I ever heard. The other day, I got a phone call from him and ran out. We met at a small pub for a drink. As soon as he sat at the table, he made a complaints about his teeth. When he visited a dental clinic a few days ago, the doctor told him his ten teeth will be pulled out and newly implanted. He looked more frustrated than any other time. In fact, he has enjoyed drinking alcohol for a long time. Judging from it, his habitual drinking might have had bad effects on his teeth.
Mr. J is a professor in education at university. We haven’t seen each other for more than ten years. Whenever I gave him a call, he said he was very busy writing a report, so he was not able to join our gathering. I tried to call him a few times, I gave up. Then, he called me to say he wants to see me. With a curiosity about his suggestion, I met him at a coffee shop at Insadong. He did not look happy, but rather blue unlike usual. After exchanging greetings, I asked what happened to him. He said he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, so he quit his job. One morning, when he got up from the bed, he wasn’t able to move his right leg at all. He visited Y University Hospital and got a MRI test on the brains. The doctor said “There is no treatment for it, but I can just delay the progress of the disease.” After few-days’ consideration, he went to meet a well-known alternative doctor. The doctor’s encouraging advice seemed to make him start his life again. He recommended him to join an exercise club, where many members are suffering from the same disease as him. It remains to be seen whether it works or not.
Let me introduce another case. Mr. K has enjoyed running marathon for a long time. He finished full time courses
more than 40 times, as I understand. Furthermore, he challenged ultra-marathon. He ran from Seoul to Deajun fifteen times. My friends admired his super energy. To be honest, I got anxious about his knee. As you many agree, the human body is similar to a machine. Every part has has a duration limit. The more we use it, the fast it will be worn out. One afternoon, his wife called me and said he was at hospital. The reason is he went down with carotid lesion. He worked at a university administration as a engineer and his office is near to the hospital. Luckily, he was taken to hospital within a five minutes of falling. He narrowly escaped from death. He also quit his job. Me? I am not exceptional. No way to avoid it makes me blue.