Good by God, I’m Going to Florida

I like the old Mark Twain line, the one where it was hard to tell where the emphasis was being placed. “Good by God, I’m going to Missouri” could mean that he was ecstatic at the opportunity of going to Missouri or, on the other hand it could have meant a great trepidation as he looked upon Missouri as a place where even God wouldn’t have gone.

This weekend I got some reasonable air fare from Houston to West Palm Beach; just a short drive from there so I can visit with my parents. I can’t be gone long, being in business for myself and being a “one horse operation” makes extended trips impractical. I will work half a day Saturday and catch a non-stop flight that gets me to Florida a couple of hours later. I have a rent car waiting that will take me the rest of the way, about an hour or so; putting me in their driveway around 10pm. I will have that evening to hug and kiss, catch up and share emotions generally before passing out on the sofa. Sunday is a total visit day and then around 3am I will drive back to catch another plane so that I will be back bright and early Monday available for work.

I have no living will, no sense in wasting that money. I wanted to let everyone know my feelings on the matter. Life is to be lived until every last ounce of energy has been exhausted. “Endure to the end”, does not include suicide or euthanasia as a means of avoiding an unpleasant experience.

I was listening to a motivational tape about a fellow who was “sitting on a fence” during a job interview. He couldn’t commit and kept coming up with scenario excuses for holding back on that commitment. “I could be driving those extra miles to work here, get into a wreck, break my leg and then where would I be?” The interviewer had grown tired of the babbling and proposed a variation of the lame “possibilities”. “Okay, so you have the wreck; only instead of breaking your leg, let’s say your neck gets broken and you end up a paraplegic with no hope of ever working again, never doing anything remotely similar to your current life style. So What?!” The interviewee got rankled for having been made fun of and stormed out.

The point is that there are no guarantees with this life we have been given. Today is great, tomorrow may not be so great. Life is to be cherished in all its forms. I choose life. If I have to lay in a coma, read to me, play all of my music; remember to play it loud because I doubt if they put hearing aids on comatose patients. Remember, I would be a patient, not a "soon to expire body" so I expect to be placed in either a hospital, a rehabilitation center or a nursing facility; not a hospice where I can await my “final glory”. If some judge or doctor claims that it is hopeless so just "pull the plug", fire the doctor and shoot the judge. Use my old police service revolver; that would make good news copy for the press corp.

So, not being one who enjoys the sensation of flying; merely the aspect of time management, I say, “Good by God, I’m going to Florida.”