Live Like You Were Dying

It was after dinner when Roy and Johnny finally had the chance to catch up on updating their logbook. The shift had already been a busy one, and had seen its share of tragedies, and a few near ones, as well.

"Roy…" Johnny called out, a pensive look on his face.

Looking up from his writing, Roy saw the expression on his partner's face, and hearing the tone with which he called Roy's name, he also knew that there was some kind of rant or rambling coming on.

"Yes, Johnny." Roy replied calmly.

"Were there ever any decisions in your life that if you had to do make them again, you'd do differently?'

"I don't know, maybe."

"Like which ones? Would you still have been a firefighter and paramedic? Would you still have asked Joanne to marry you?"

"I probably would have thought twice about asking you to be my partner." He commented dryly.

"Oh very funny, Roy. I happen to be very serious about this."

Sensing his partner's genuineness, Roy wondered why he was talking about all of this.

"Johnny where is this coming from, anyway?"

"The decisions we make impact our lives…every day. This morning at that car accident we were at…that man made the decision to drive home after a night of drinking…he killed the woman and her little girl who had made the decision to go to the store early for shopping. His freedom is gone, and the lives of two innocent people are over. That things could change in a heartbeat, just based on a choice you make…that's what I'm talking about Roy."

Roy thought for a moment before answering.

"I don't know Johnny. That's life…that's how it works. You leave the house in the morning…you have no idea if you're coming home."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Like a few years back with my friend Drew. He left the house that morning…and well we both know what happened next. Now Pam is raising their little girl alone. What's that saying, Roy…'there are no do-overs in life?'"

"Something like that."

"Well, wouldn't it be nice if there were do-overs and second chances to make things right? You know, like in sports when you're playing around with a friend, and you can't decide if a ball was in or out…you agree to a do-over? And in the movies there are usually always second chances with happy endings, as a result. Like in the movie An Affair to Remember…Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr eventually found their way back to each other again…and in White Christmas, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney find their way back to each other, too…and in…"

"Times were different back in the 1950's, Partner. Try the movies of the 70's…The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, and The Godfather, to name a few. Those movies didn't quite have happy endings."

"The 50's, the 70's…it doesn't matter, Roy. My point is that people's lives are shaped by the decisions they make. In The Towering Inferno, the son-in-law made the decision to cut corners, and that caused the fire that killed a lot of people. Earthquake…Charlton Heston decided to stay with his wife, rather than his girlfriend. Don't you think his girlfriend's life was impacted by his decision? And in The Godfather…well, it's pretty obvious."

"Johnny, no one knows what's coming up…there are no guarantees. But you're right, life is not like a movie or a sporting event. A wise man once told me that you just have to take things one day at a time…and live each day like you were dying…because you just never know."

"Who told you that?" Johnny asked with a perplexed look.

"John Roderick Gage did. You told me that after you recovered from that monkey virus. And based on your active social life and your very vivid imagination…I'd say that you do. Now let's get this logbook done…before the guys come back, and Chet ruins our peace and quiet."

The End