Having a bowl of Cheerios for a friend

Every Thursday I have a routine.

At 10 am, I have my weekly hour-long Zoom session with my therapist. To prepare for it, I shower, take a walk and make breakfast which is a cup of coffee and a bowl of Cheerios. I then bring the food to the basement, where I have the appointment. This is the only day of the week that I do anything this structured.

Two years ago, my college friend Brad, died in a tragic accident at his home. He was carrying a bowl of cereal on a stairway when he slipped and fell. He hit his head which killed him.

When I first heard of his death, it shook me up for a couple of days. It was more about the suddenness than anything else. I then heard the details and it made it worse. I have issues with my balance and I’m careful when I walk. I’m even more careful on stairs. Brad’s accident just brought this to the forefront for me.

I was doing this routine before I heard about the accident. I would bring both the coffee and the cereal downstairs at the same time. But, then it changed. Why chance it? I started making two trips. Another thirty seconds wasn’t going to change anything. Much better to be safe than sorry.

Recently I noticed that every time I was bringing the Cheerios down the stairs, I was thinking of Brad. I guess I was thinking of two things: one was morbidly don’t end up falling like him and two was remembering so many of the fun things that happened in college more than five decades before.

There sadly was one other thing. A few years ago, I was in Memphis where Brad lived. I thought about calling him but decided to do some touristy sightseeing instead. I figured there would be another opportunity—there never was. I still feel sad about that.

So now the Cheerios are another sign not to put things off. Do what’s important to you when you get the chance to do it because you just never know. The world sure gives you a lot of them if you keep your eyes open. Thanks for that one, Brad. I’ll be thinking about you again next Thursday.