k's funeral (m)

This morning, I attended the funeral of the sister of my long-time executive assistant, D.  D's sister, K, died within one year of her cancer diagnosis.  She left behind two sons, ages 26 and 22....the only one of the four sisters to have children.  The church was in South Boston, a gritty blue-collar Irish-Catholic neighborhood.  The location is where they filmed The Departed.  Some of the people in the church looked like they may have served as extras on the set of that movie.

I met K a few times.  She was always neatly dressed, but the best thing she wore was her smile.  We watched fireworks from the Chairman's office at the Prudential Center a couple of Fourths of July and, two years ago, she came to Harrison's Ice Show.  She looked like one of those stereotypical soccer moms.

But K was no ordinary suburban housewife.  She was estranged from her husband and struggled to raise two boys virtually on her own. I was surprised to learn today that K worked two jobs for 20 years.  Mondays-Fridays at a Montessori School; Saturdays and Sundays at a nursing home.  Can you imagine working 7 days per week....for twenty years?  The saddest thing D said about losing her sister so young (56 years old) was that she never had time for herself.  This was supposed to be her time to relax and enjoy life.  The boys were out of college and living on their own.  In the end, K reassured her sisters about this, saying "I have no regrets."

No regrets.

I thought about this all during the service.  When my time comes, will I have any regrets?  I could only think of one...my weight.  I think I wasted alot of years--prime years--not living life to the fullest because I was uncomfortable with my looks and my weight. 

What a waste of time.

I've got to get these knees fixed, too.