Daughters of the Shadow Men

I thought David Archuleta gave a stunning performance tonight and will be the next American Idol.  He sang all three of his songs with deep feeling and meaning and his voice sounded beautiful. 

But all the while he was singing I could not help but think of what happened to a resident here in the complex. A notice was just posted.  A young woman in her forties, at least to me she was young, was found dead.  Someone called the security desk and said they could not reach her and wanted them to check on her.  They did and she had passed.  I thought of this woman as one of the healthiest here.  She would stride out day after day looking as though she were going to walk a long ways. I would have said she was one of the most vigorous women in here. 

I don't know yet what happened.  The very fact that she was in here tells me that she was considered disabled some way, possibly with mental illness. A neighbor implied she was doing something detrimental to her health which suggests drugs possibly.  We may never know.  This is a large complex and unless we know the person well, we might not hear what is involved in a death.  Nobody will probably know until an autopsy is performed.

The other two women I met up with yesterday are struggling.  Tammy has been making a valiant fight for life battling this tumor in her pituitary gland.  She has fallen many times and displayed the ensuing bandages and bruises matter of factly.  I mean this woman has showed guts in fighting an almost overwhelming foe.  She cannot be faulted for longing for the struggle to be over sometimes, for asking that she not be resuscitated if she has a near death episode.  But it is not in the nature of the medical profession to give up on a relatively young woman.  They fight for her even when she is tired and just wants to lay down and not get up again.  I know that it takes a struggle for her just to walk. 

I saw the woman who got involved in the cat fight today, and there is still cause for concern.  It looks like the infection nearly got out of control before antibiotics and treatment kicked in.  Then when I wasn't looking for it another young woman I have seen go about her business many times, striding along I thought like a young Amazon, is gone! 

When I get involved, talk to the people here, I feel I am helping a little to anchor them to life when they are ailing.  I did not get a chance to know the young woman who has gone, but I saw her many times going somewhere with her inimitable stride.  In the midst of life, we must pay homage to fate that may take any one of us in the twinkling of an eye, no matter how young or unready.  I pray now for this young woman.  May her journey be as easy as possible to that land beyond.  May she land there gently even though the shock must surely be great for her who might not have been expecting this summons. I can only hope she did not take her own life, for that will be even harder for her to come back from, in that other world.      

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• #4 Comment from nelishianatl 
  5/22/08 5:16 PM | Permalink

  I know all too well about living in a building with people who are disabled.  That's where I lived too before marrying Dirk.  No matter what, I was always shocked to hear of someone's passing, especially if I'd interacted with them.  I had a room with a window facing the street so that if an ambulance was called, I'd see the blue lights on the ceiling of my room.  It reminded me of my own and everyone's mortality and how life is too short to hold grudges nor carry bitterness.  
  
  I think David A.  sung wonderfully too.  He'll be a success and will be offered many, many contracts now that he didn't win as he won't be tied into a seven year contract with American Idol and have to give most of the money to them, he can be a free agent to pick his own and not simply A.I's property.  Sometimes win you lose, you win.
  
  Nelishia
  http://journals.aol.com/nelishianatl/Prayingandbelieving/
• #3 Comment from kamdghwmw 
  5/21/08 10:36 AM | Permalink

  There are so many people all around me and I do not really know what is gong on in their lives. You are not alone there. I think you are brave to get involed with people. I have tried to help people before but I always end up getting burned, so that is why I try very hard not get to involved. Sad, I know.
  Kelli
  http://journals.aol.com/kamdghwmw/noonmom
• #2 Comment from chat2missie 
  5/21/08 10:26 AM | Permalink

  I'm sorry about the young woman.  Enjoy your day.
  Missie
• #1 Comment from madcobug 
  5/21/08 4:56 AM | Permalink

  I am so sorry about the young woman's death. May she rest in peace. May God be with her friends and family. Helen