The impact of one person's life

From the film "It's A Wonderful Life"

You hear about the impact one person can have on many people, and most of us have watched the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" and saw the impact that George Bailey had on his family and town. I recently experienced this first-hand when my primary physician unexpectedly passed away. She had been my doctor since I left my pediatrician more than 40 years ago. While I knew she was not taking new patients, she was still working a full schedule.

Her death was sudden, unexpected and made me incredibly sad. When I heard the news, I burst into tears. This was a woman who had seen me through illnesses, literally saved my life when I had toxic shock syndrome in 1981, who saw me through marriage, the death of my mother, and more. Her absence is profound, and intimate in a way that is hard to describe.

Her physician son took over the practice, but did not want to continue with it,  and abruptly closed the the practice. Gone are 40 years of health records, which really were the history of my body. My husband is in the same boat although he had "only" seen her for about 28 years.

She was a general practitioner in the truest sense of the term. With her as our doctor, we did not need to see other specialists. She even played the role of marriage counselor at times, with her engaging personality, sparkling wit and common sense. The search for a new doctor has been rough. We found a GP, but also now need a cardiologist, a neurologist, an ob-gyn, and who knows what else.

She died last October. It is now September and almost 11 months have passed. We are still feeling the impact and the loss, the incredible loss. The ripples from this death have amazed me and surprised me. I'm sure I am not the only person feeling this loss. Employees were suddenly without jobs, a family was without a matriarch, and a church lost an incredible leader and parishioner.

Life is short. Enjoy it. Do good things. Spend time with the people you want to spend time with. To me, that has meant spending time with people who share my values and people who I have known over a long period of time. Don't waste time on the "small stuff." Life is short. Enjoy it.