Barak Article

Turning 40... Lifestyle Changes
Friday Apr 25, 2008 10:39 am

Changes, new places, new lives, old friends -

I was talking with a dear lover last night and they were going through a bit of a hard time. You see they were desperate for a change, and yet didn't want to leave what they had behind. I totally understood. So much so, that I decided to offer a little in the way of my history and so shared a time when I had a similar dilemma.

Now this was not so long ago (a week in fact) but the process getting up to the decision was the hard part. You see I am not as young as I used to be, and will be turning 40 in a little while. Now 40 is not near as old as I thought it was when I was 20, but that is another story. So, earlier this week, I decided to fulfill a dream.

Early this week, I traded my bar-hopper in on a slammed and lowered bagger. The new HD Street Glide. Yes, a bagger. A hot rod bagger, but a bagger none-the less. Why would I do such a thing? Because, I don't want to put my dreams on the shelf anymore.

You see, for the last 2 years, I had been promising myself - "When I get a new house I will...". It is that same thing in other areas also. If I lose a couple pounds I will... or - When I get a down payment I will... We all make conditions on our dreams. I finally thought - I am not going to do that anymore. If I can, I will. I am no longer going to compromise my dreams and desires for self imposed limitations.

Life is too short to be viewed from the back seat, folks. If we continue to kill or postpone our dreams, what happens?

Let me tell you this story. When I first moved to Ohio, I was an EMT. I was working in Coshocton county with CC EMS. One fine day, we got a call that a Hog Truck had fallen off a bridge. There were multiple vehicle accidents with injuries. So we hopped in the ambulance and the medic and went out there to start helping the victims.

When we got there, it was sheer chaos. Apparently, while crossing the bridge over a 4 lane, the truck had gotten out of control and smashed through the guide rail - dropping the 25 -35 feet to the 4 lane below. You could see the huge truck on it's side in the middle of the roadway. There were cars skewed all over, there were people milling about, some with blood on them, and most of all - there were dead hogs everywhere. The road was covered with 50 or so huge pigs in various stages of the death process. Most of 'em were just laying there.

It took about an hour or two before everyone was triaged, and the wounded were accounted for. The local dept of public works had been stacking and hauling away the pigs. Finally, as a tow truck was about to lift and move the trailer, we saw something. It was a compact car, a mazda 323 in blue to be exact, squished under the trailer. I mean it had to be 18-20 inches tall, and the trailer had bent around it so it was almost invisible.

All the EMS people rushed over with various implements of extraction, and in the end, we found a family. They were all dead of course, the father was driving, the mother in the passenger seat, and the young child in the back. All dead. From the way they were facing, and the lack of skid marks you could tell they had no idea prior to the crash. It was horrid. To this day, I will never forget it.

One thing did come out of it though. When faced with that kind of insanity, EMS and Emergency workers tend to get a little humorous. It is called gallows humor and is our way of blowing off the stress that comes with the job. So in that moment, when there was no sound; just the stillness of death, and the horror of that catastrophe. My boss turns to me and says, "Well...., you never know when a Hog Truck is gonna fall on ya.". We all began to laugh. We laughed until we cried. But that has always stuck with me. "You never know when a Hog Truck is gonna fall on ya.".

It's true. We don't know what life will bring us. We have no idea what is around the next corner, or when we are going to call it a day. So, if we don't follow our dreams now..

Just something I was thinking about while I waited for the rain to clear. Well, see ya later! I'm going for a ride... on my dream bike.

Twistedly,
Barak

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