My husband and I lost a very dear friend and neighbor this week.
He died of Stage IV Pancreatic cancer at the age of 58 after a very short four month battle. The thing is only four people in this world knew that he had this horrible disease. He was very sick and in a lot of pain but he hid it. He didn't want people to be worried about him. He didn't want people to be sad. Whenever we asked, he had a little medical "thing" but it wasn't a big deal. That was how he was - generous and always making sure other people were taken care of.
We didn't know he was as sick as he was. He died of sepsis after only two chemo treatments. It was a shock. We had waved hello to him just two days before. He smiled and waved back. We never saw him again. I'm comforted by the fact that he did have his best friend and his BF's wife with him until the end. It wasn't uncommon for them to travel down to where we live and stay for 6 months at a time, so that wasn't even a clue.
We lived next door to him for over 15 years. He was the neighborhood "safe house" for our boys. We bonded over our mutual love of Halloween (the holiday). He would start planning on Nov 1st and start building 2 to 3 months ahead of Halloween. He would put up a different theme every year. He had turned his front yard into a cornfield, a graveyard and other spooky settings. He and his friends would hang out and scare all the neighborhood kids (and a few adults). Our youngest was finally at the point where he was done with trick 'r treating and we were looking forward to helping him with this year's haunt.
In a flash, he was gone. I'm not posting this for sympathy. You don't always know what is going on in other people's lives - especially if they are going everything in their power to hide it from you. Life can change in a moment and someone that you love and care about can be gone. So remember to them you love them. Pick up the phone and call, because "tomorrow" might not come.