You Were Right On Time!

My how time flies. Hard to believe it's been over two and a half years now since I had a 'chance' encounter with a wonderful person who would forever have an invaluable impact on my life. Of course, I didn't actually know it at the time but believe me when I say that I have never met a stronger, more courageous individual. More than likely, I never will again.

There I was, driving down the busy freeways of LA, 'zig zagging' my way to Irvine. On the agenda, a long day of 'cramming' information into my brain, hoping to retain as much of it as possible. All of this to be better prepared to pass a very important Exam that I was scheduled to take the following week in San Diego.

As the 'classroom' started to fill with people, I had that sick feeling of being back in school again. After so many years, not an overly comfortable feeling to say the least. However it did get better as we all started to 'mingle' and discuss our backgrounds, goals and overall reasons for being there. Basically it came down to the same thing for everyone, to further our Real Estate careers, so it was beneficial to all.

OK, 9:00am and time to get started. Let the lesson begin! For the most part the room was full but over the beginning 5 or 10 minutes of class a few 'tardies' continued to walk through the door and attempted to find an open seat, trying not to disrupt the ongoings. Luckily for me the seat next to mine wasn't taken and as they say, "timing is everything". A young woman that would forever change my life proceeded to sit down in the seat next to me and get settled in.

Now, if I said that when she initially walked in the room my first thought wasn't "Wow, she's beautiful. I hope she sits next to me", then I would be lying. I know that sounds 'superficial' but I'm a guy, that's what we do. However, I had yet to even begin to realize how truly beautiful she is. As the lesson continued we chatted a bit and next thing you know, it's lunch time.

Mustering up all my courage, I asked if she would join me for lunch. Luckily for me, she said yes. Now at this point I was just excited to be having lunch with this beautiful, intelligent young woman. How could I even begin to imagine the impact that this day would have on my life. Neither of us were familiar with this part of town or any of the various 'eateries' that were within our allotted time frame. We drove around a bit, searching for a place to eat and then it dawned on me to call a friend of mine that knew the area and he suggested one of my favorite places, In-N-Out Burger! Could it get any better than this?

Throughout the drive there and as we ate I got to know a bit more about her. Needless to say I was in no way prepared for what I was about to learn. After all, how could I be? By all outward appearances, she is an extremely attractive, very intelligent young woman with a great attitude and personality. What else could there be? Without hesitation or feeling any need to hide anything, she casually says "I was diagnosed with Cancer at age 17. The large amounts of Chemotherapy to fight the Cancer damaged my lungs to the point of needing a Double Lung Transplant. However it was determined that I was not a good candidate for a Lung Transplant, my body could not "handle it" and therefore I was not put on the donor "waiting list"."

Needless to say, to hear this was devastating to me and it absolutely broke my heart. How could this happen to such a precious young lady? With this diagnosis, most would feel it was time to "give up" or as her friends suggested, "Why don't you go on vacation, do some traveling, see the world?" Like I said, 'most' but not her. She decided instead to further her education, attend such prestigious schools as Princeton, Harvard, Stanford and UCLA. All in her quest to prepare herself to pass the BAR Exam. This is just an example of her amazing attitude towards life and all its challenges.

She enrolled in Law School and over the next few years, as she continued her studies her health continued to deteriorate. Low and behold, more testing showed that she could be a Transplant recipient after all and without much time to spare, she received her 'new' lungs and thank Heaven was given the "gift of life". Unfortunately, with such short notice her "donor lungs" were not of optimal 'quality' and 'fit'. Early on her body showed signs of 'rejection' which meant another devastating operation and the removal of one of her lungs. She has continued to battle numerous health issues throughout the years with all the ups, downs and unknowns that one could even imagine having been thrown at her. Yet, through all of this her attitude has not been "Why me?" but instead she chooses to dwell on the positive things in her life. She considers herself blessed and grateful for all of the time she has been given when her future was not always so bright. She is the epitomy of the "glass is half full" type of person, which I admire so much and I honestly believe this has been a big part of her getting where she is today. What I wouldn't give for just half her strength and courage.

She just celebrated her birthday a few days ago, one that she knows was never promised, nor guaranteed and she's just reached another milestone, seven years since her Transplant! None of us are promised anything, there are no guarantees in life. We can only hope that we will wake up to see another beautiful sunrise or to enjoy another full moon on a star filled night. Life is such a precious gift, don't waste it on anger, sorrow and regret. Let go of the past, there's nothing you can do about it but learn from it. And in essence we have no real control of the future. All any of us have is 'right now'. Our attitude is the biggest 'decision' we can make. 'Things' are going to happen, both good and bad but it's our attitude and how we react to those 'things' that will truly determine our lifes path.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm no 'expert' and I surely struggle with this every day but having said that, I am trying my best to remember that my attitude and how I react to adversity are the keys to life. I only know this because I have a very dear friend that faces, on a daily basis, adversity that would crush anyone. Yet she continues to cherish every new day with a feeling of being blessed to have experienced another beautiful sunrise. That's why neither you nor I can ever give up, she wouldn't. You never know 'who' or 'what' is waiting for us just around the corner. Sure, problems arise for everyone and no one is immune to them but you just can't give up. I have been going through quite a few 'struggles' of my own lately, although nowhere near anything she conquers daily but I do my best to think about what she would do and how she'd 'handle it'. Suddenly things become much easier, not easy but easier to deal with.

I truly believe it was I who was blessed that October day. As she struggled to get 'settled in' and 'up to speed' with the rest of class, she whispered to me that she was surprised she was late. She had contacted the instructor to confirm directions, estimated the time it would take to get there, etc. and left home with plenty of time to spare. After all that, "how could she be late"? I only had one response. "You were right on time." A minute sooner, she might have sat in a previously open seat. A minute later, the seat next to me might have already been taken. Either way, I would have been deprived of meeting one of, if not THE most influential and important people I could ever hope to meet. Like I say, I am truly blessed to have met her.

My life changed forever that day. I only wish I could begin to give back to her some of what she has given me. Best of all, she's a 'genuine' friend, through the 'good' and the 'bad'. It's not about what I have or don't have, I know she will always be my friend, no matter what. Unfortunately that seems to be more and more difficult to find in people these days and I consider myself a very lucky person to be her friend. We continue to correspond thru emails, a bit on the phone and I have also been out to her place to spend time visiting with her, yet I have never been able to truly tell her how much my meeting her has meant to me. I can only hope that by her reading this it will help to explain all she has done and continues to do for me. And just how much she means to me. "Annabelle, I Love You and thank you for being my friend."