This hits right in the heart

My best friend from high school texted me last fall - He had suffered a heart attack in August. 

Wait. He what? When it happened, we were both still 50. I’ve moved up a number and he’s closing in. 

But still, what? It turns out he was having stents put in for some clogged arteries and suffered a heart attack on the operating table. I guess that’s the best place to be when a heart attack happens. 

I called him, and we visited for quite a while. We don’t do that often enough. Life has occurred, and while we might text occasionally, the last time I saw him was for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary two and a half years ago.

We talked again recently. He had to go through plenty after his heart attack as far as rehab goes. But the problem of the clogged arteries remained, so he had to have bypass surgery. He was in the operating room for ten hours as they did a triple bypass with valve replacement. That’s also scary.

The scariest part could have been much worse. After his heart attack, he was told that he almost didn’t make it. In fact, if he hadn’t spent the previous months losing a significant amount of weight, he would have died. 

Thank goodness he realized he needed to make changes before all that happened. He has continued exercising, walking at least three miles a day once he was allowed to do so following his heart attack. When we talked, less than a week after his surgery, he was just happy he could walk fifty feet.

I’m guessing most of us have good intentions about improving our health. But studies by the CDC show that at least 40% of American adults are overweight or obese. I know I could trim some fat, and I need to do a better job of going for a walk or getting on the treadmill. I should eat better. I should not wait for something like what happened to my friend to happen to me before I do those things.

I should also take the time to stay in contact with friends like him. He still lives in New Ulm, so it’s not like we’re a great distance apart. The old excuses of chasing our kids around are pretty much over, or at least not quite as consistent. When we spoke, he said we really need to get together and just hang out, like the old days.

I spent a lot of time at his place in high school. Part of it was we worked together at the grocery store, and part was his access to ESPN, something we didn’t have at my house. We did enjoy watching sports! And his parents were the most likable people you’ll ever meet; his mom kept us well fed, too!

We also were known to party once we were out of high school. In fact, he’d travel over to Winona to hang out with me and my roommates and sometimes imbibe too much. He attributes some of his health problems to doing that more than he should have, even farther into adulthood. Now, he said, the thought of beer doesn’t really appeal to him. I can understand why.

I wrote about evolving last month. Sometimes it happens naturally, such as our tastes in television, books, and music as we get older. Other times, it’s forced. My friend changed, in large part, because he had to. He lost all that weight because he knew something was off. I’m sure a lot of people follow this path. It’s a lot easier to eat chips and drink soda than it is to get off the couch and get fit. 

As we progress through Lent, many people give something up as a sacrifice. Our priest commented that we should do things to make ourselves better people. I’m not eating ice cream or drinking soda, which will make me healthier. But will I just go back to those things when Easter arrives? 

Our body is a temple. We should clean it up, both physically and spiritually. We should not wait for the temple to start to crumble. 

I need to physically get in better shape and spiritually keep in touch with my friends. I may still have heart issues some day; it does run in my family. But I’d like to put that off as long as possible. My family and friends would like that as well.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is peregrinate, which means to wander from place to place, as in, “He would often peregrinate around town, with no clear path, as he walked to get in better shape.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!