At Dunn Brothers(local coffee joint)

[Cisco99]

I'm at the coffee shop with my buddy Rich and I am looking around

at the people reading and playing with their phones,

and I say to him, you know, Rich, because I'm sick,

I'm really aware that everyone around me is dying, too.

We’re all headed to a pretty sorry end.

These people here, they are dying but they act like nothing’s happening.

A part of me wants to go from table to table and say to people,

Hi, do you know that death is coming for you?

What are you doing about that fact?

And Rich leans across the table and whispers to me,

“I don’t think they want you to tell them that, Mike.”

[Lyubov]

Appreciate your desire to tell them but agree with Mike.

[Danielgreer]

I like your poem Cisco. I think it’s only terminals like us and artists that would understand the situation we’re in.

[Hidden]

Missing the point, as morbid as it seems.

[Cisco99]

This really happened, in a euphoric (but yes, morbid) moment. I wanted to tell people to LIVE because it doesn't last forever.

[SeosamhM in reply to Cisco99]

Indeed, Mike. Thanks for this very open post - sometimes we need to cut away from analysis of treatment.

By the way, I don't know if Rich was trying to be hilarious, but he was. Classic. Speaking of classic and tongue-in-cheek humor, as I was a teenager in the 1980s, I am reminded of Oingo Boingo's "No One Lives Forever".... listen if you dare, folks, the song doesn't brook excuses....(and it's '80s ska/pop, so not especially tuneful...)

youtube.com/watch?v=6gyF_5G...(Not working as expected?)

[Cisco99 in reply to SeosamhM]

Yeah, Rich is hilarious. He can out think me even giving me a 2-minute head start.

Wasn't Danny Elfman in Oingo Boingo?

[SeosamhM in reply to Cisco99]

Indeed! He was the front man...

[Sguh]

Perhaps they are playing with their phones or whatever because they, too have a disease that is killing them. We all do. It's called Life. Life comes in many forms, as does death. It's how we handle the transition period that's important. I wish peace and love to all, despite the fact that, in my family, none is given to me. Live as you wish and enjoy the moment(s), but don't assume that illness or the spectre we call death, isn't looming or thought about by many, because it is. I think about it all the time. Who knows, maybe I was in that place when you were! 🤔

[cancerking]

I am doing well but I also occasionally think of death. Thank you for the note. It reminds me that I am not alone.

[Hidden]

I wonder if we are the only species aware of our inevitable mortality. I consider it a pretty good trick or coping mechanism that we can actually get on with our lives and relationships knowing that.

[Cisco99 in reply to Hidden]

I think we are by far the species with the broadest consciousness. I used to be a zookeeper, so I know that most creatures experience fear. I know my own dogs best though, over the years. One dog, 15, had to be put down when he had something like a stroke. He died so gracefully, licking my knuckles as he left. It sure felt like a knowing goodbye.

One other dog, 35 years ago, was out on her own and got hit by a car. Bleeding internally, she made her way back into the house, climbed the stairs, and died in my arms. She knew something.

When dogs are ill, they seem to know they are ill. But even when they are in pain, they don't usually bellyache about it (like we do). They just turn down their dials, and gradually stop being part of the household. Is that knowledge of death or just an embedded response? Who the heck knows.

[Sguh in reply to Cisco99]

I believe animals have more sensciencesp.?) than we give them credit for possessing. WE KNOW our Pit Bozco knew he was dying when he was staying at OSU being treated for cancer. They called us one morning and told us to hurry over, Bozco was close to death. We drove like the blazes and when we got there, he climbed out of his cage, with his favorite pillow in his mouth, I sang his favorite song and he laid down and smiled...yes smiled. After our hugs and kisses, the vet didn't even have to administer medication, he simply left this plane. He was waiting for us, we feel, so he could be loved and kissed towards the next stop on his journey. We still cry like babies whenever we think of his graceful, loving and KNOWING exit. After some of the experiences we've had with our furry family members, there is no doubt in our minds that they know about death. Our other Pit, Reilly, could smell cancer. We know so little. I believe studies are being conducted regarding this very subject. Peace out❣

[Cisco99 in reply to Sguh]

I'm convinced. They are like guardian angels to us.

[Cisco99 in reply to Cisco99]

You Taught Me How to Die

The dog was in a coma when we arrived at the hospital.

I lifted him, limp, from the carseat and placed him on the cart.

They took him inside to examine him, then wheeled him back out to me,

ready for the injection. My son and I knelt around him for a few minutes,

thanking him with words and touches for being a good dog,

and for being our dog his entire life. Just before it was time,

he opened his eyes, which were so blind now, and so tired from his ordeal.

Then he licked the knuckles on our hands, so solemnly,

then drifted back to sleep.

[Sguh in reply to Cisco99]

I couldn't agree with you more.

[tsim]

It wouldn't make much difference, most people are scared of really living.

[Sguh in reply to tsim]

Two things about leaving this place DO bother me. One was being told by a doc that a loved one had a week or two at most to live. NEVER put a date stamp on someone's life, it has the potential to take away hope . Fortunately my loved one is still alive, having proved the doc wrong. It's been 8 mos. since those words were uttered. On the other side of that coin, being told by a loved one that I was supposed to die first, was a definite joy killer. I don't care where the words come from, just don't put a time limit on one's life. We live as long as we have the ability. Keep timing out of the paradigm and LIVE! Don't listen to hogwash from anyone who thinks they know another person's expiration date! I'm reminded of some olive oil that was found sealed in casks in Pompeii. After a tremendous amount of time, had passed, they were unearthed, removed from their lava coating and when one was opened, the oil was still good! Now THAT is life! Supposedly it tasted completely fresh. I never heard what became of the tester, but dang! That oil's expiration date was exceptional. I think we are all as exceptional as that oil and we don't require a lava seal, either! We just tell people to keep their dates to themselves and WE'LL LIVE as long as we darn well please!!

[gleason9guy]

I'm just impressed you know Buddy Rich!

[Cisco99 in reply to gleason9guy]

Yeah, Buddy and I walk dogs together. Sometimes Lionel Hampton joins us.

[monte1111]

Yeah. I think you would have got your ass beat. It's when a doctor tells you you are incurable and this is how long you will probably live that you realize that The Iceman Cometh. As Andy said "Get busy living, or get busy dying." I went through months of despair. And then I got busy living.

[Cisco99]

I think my ass would have survived. It's a college coffee shop. People would have looked at me and then looked back at their laptops or newspapers.

Is that what The Iceman Cometh means? Google says yes:

The slang expressions “to put someone on ice” or “to ice someone,” both mean “to kill” that “someone.” The iceman Hickey left Evelyn with (in the play by Eugene O'Neil) is Death. When used in the title with the word “cometh,” the implication is that Death comes in the present tense—it is always arriving for someone.

I never saw the play so I didn't know.

[Seebs9]

I think this is what "woke" really means. I understand exactly what you are saying. Live until you dont...

[j-o-h-n]

Well when I watch a football or baseball game (on TV or in person), I think to myself "Hey myself all those people in the stadium will be gone in 100 years (or less)".. I don't think I can make it around the stadium before the game is finished. But Hell they don't care, they're having fun watching a game. So should we.......... I hate fucking cancer........

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 12/18/2019 5:24 PM EST

[Cisco99]

I am all for folks having fun. I just want 'em dancing on my helpless form.,