Saturday in CinCity...Knock on Wood Edition

The past 48hrs have been spent mainly in the company of three families. Two of young men who, though they believe themselves to be Supermen, in fact are not faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. One boy was going to rehab and one was going home. My third family was comprised of the descendants of a 78yr old grandfather. A guy's guy who loved to play cards with his buddies and go fishing. He'd had to leave his own home recently and moved in with one of his grandsons, but "was always doing something. You'd never see Gramps sittin' still for too long. He liked to go."

He was playing poker two afternoons ago when he developed some slurred speech and left sided weakness. He was diagnosed with an ischemic stroke of the right middle cerebral artery, given an injection of a powerful clot-busting drug without effect and sent to us. In the course of treatment for this gentleman he suffered what is called a "hemorrhagic conversion" and had a large bleed arise from the original point of damage to eventually flood and encompass the entire right side of his brain. This family made the decision to withdraw aggressive medical treatment and to provide comfort care for Gramps.

It may be luck of the draw or the whimsies of the gods, guardian angels or a fate predetermined for us in the beginning of time, but every story has its own ending. In these cases I can't disagree with the denouement. Despite the sadness I am relieved that two young men will get a second chance at living and that this funeral will not be a parent burying a child. And, for today, that's enough.