I'm going to change his name here out of respect to his family.
I worked with a man named Jim O'Reilly. Jim was one of the kindest men I've ever known. He was sweet to everyone and always went around trying to be friendly, and an honest to good "Good Christian Southerner", as it were.
Jim would always ask everyone on his way somewhere if they wanted or needed anything. He was always available to listen. He always offered amazing advice from a kind heart. He was a great man, truly.
Jim passed away in February, complications from two different cancers he had and a degenerative nerve disease.
In the year leading up to his death, things like walking and breathing became harder and harder for Jim. He had been with our company so long that upper management gave him a small pay raise and a do-nothing job, so that he could continue to live and pay into his retirement without actually having to do any real work.
We paid him, in those final years, to be on Facebook and to chat with his kids. We all knew and we were all okay with looking over it - the gratitude you get for 30 years of unwavering service.
Jim's last vacation in two years was the last 2 and a half weeks of his life, unfortunately.
A few weeks before he died, he was having complications with his heart so he went to the doctor. His cancer had progressed significantly. Jim didn't have enough money to either retire or keep up with treatment, so he simply let the disease progress.
At 67, and without enough money to retire on, Jim was forced to work up until he went into the hospital. After 3 days in the ICU the doctor's had him moved to hospice, where he spent his remaining two weeks with his family, slowly dying.
Jim passed away at the end of February. He was happy, comfortable, and at peace with his creator.
At his funural, 50% of the attendees were his family, the other 50% were coworkers. Maybe 2 people were there outside of those groups, and all in all there were maybe 13 to 15 people there.
Please don't misunderstand my intentions: Jim was an incredible man, and the world is worse for having lost him, but I don't want to end up like him.
He spent 30 years of his life working and working and working, only to die penniless and be sent off by very few - his son wasn't in attendance at the service (couldn't get off from work).
How sad is that? I bet at the end of his life, laying in hospice, he didn't think to himself, "Man I wish I had worked more!"
Jim chose the slow lane and in the end it took everything from him and he left the world with what he came in with: nothing. I have a picture of him that I requested from the family taped into my commonplace book. This man is my inspiration not just to be kind, honest, and of good cheer, but to work hard in a way that will secure my future and touch lives.
I don't want to spend my whole life giving into a system that does nothing to repay me, and end my life with nothing to show for it.
I want to mean something. I want my family's future to be secured. I don't want to end up like Jim.
The slow lane will kill you if you let it.
Again, I hope you understand my intention with this isn't to beat up on a dead man - he was an awesome guy. My intent is to take the wool from over your eyes, to give you a real world example of the "work for 40 years and retire when you're 65-70" lie. IT is a lie and it does not benefit you.
Jim deserved better from life, you know? His family deserved better. Unfortunately life doesn't give you things because you're good. You have to fight for what you want and be willing to put yourself out there, push the envelope, reach out and take it. You have to be willing to try and fail and try again.
Anyway, if the mods feel this is inappropriate, I understand. Feel free to move or delete it. This has just been weighing down on me a lot, really getting me to think about the path we put our lives on. Life is short and your choices will steer you. Make sure they're good ones.
I worked with a man named Jim O'Reilly. Jim was one of the kindest men I've ever known. He was sweet to everyone and always went around trying to be friendly, and an honest to good "Good Christian Southerner", as it were.
Jim would always ask everyone on his way somewhere if they wanted or needed anything. He was always available to listen. He always offered amazing advice from a kind heart. He was a great man, truly.
Jim passed away in February, complications from two different cancers he had and a degenerative nerve disease.
In the year leading up to his death, things like walking and breathing became harder and harder for Jim. He had been with our company so long that upper management gave him a small pay raise and a do-nothing job, so that he could continue to live and pay into his retirement without actually having to do any real work.
We paid him, in those final years, to be on Facebook and to chat with his kids. We all knew and we were all okay with looking over it - the gratitude you get for 30 years of unwavering service.
Jim's last vacation in two years was the last 2 and a half weeks of his life, unfortunately.
A few weeks before he died, he was having complications with his heart so he went to the doctor. His cancer had progressed significantly. Jim didn't have enough money to either retire or keep up with treatment, so he simply let the disease progress.
At 67, and without enough money to retire on, Jim was forced to work up until he went into the hospital. After 3 days in the ICU the doctor's had him moved to hospice, where he spent his remaining two weeks with his family, slowly dying.
Jim passed away at the end of February. He was happy, comfortable, and at peace with his creator.
At his funural, 50% of the attendees were his family, the other 50% were coworkers. Maybe 2 people were there outside of those groups, and all in all there were maybe 13 to 15 people there.
Please don't misunderstand my intentions: Jim was an incredible man, and the world is worse for having lost him, but I don't want to end up like him.
He spent 30 years of his life working and working and working, only to die penniless and be sent off by very few - his son wasn't in attendance at the service (couldn't get off from work).
How sad is that? I bet at the end of his life, laying in hospice, he didn't think to himself, "Man I wish I had worked more!"
Jim chose the slow lane and in the end it took everything from him and he left the world with what he came in with: nothing. I have a picture of him that I requested from the family taped into my commonplace book. This man is my inspiration not just to be kind, honest, and of good cheer, but to work hard in a way that will secure my future and touch lives.
I don't want to spend my whole life giving into a system that does nothing to repay me, and end my life with nothing to show for it.
I want to mean something. I want my family's future to be secured. I don't want to end up like Jim.
The slow lane will kill you if you let it.
Again, I hope you understand my intention with this isn't to beat up on a dead man - he was an awesome guy. My intent is to take the wool from over your eyes, to give you a real world example of the "work for 40 years and retire when you're 65-70" lie. IT is a lie and it does not benefit you.
Jim deserved better from life, you know? His family deserved better. Unfortunately life doesn't give you things because you're good. You have to fight for what you want and be willing to put yourself out there, push the envelope, reach out and take it. You have to be willing to try and fail and try again.
Anyway, if the mods feel this is inappropriate, I understand. Feel free to move or delete it. This has just been weighing down on me a lot, really getting me to think about the path we put our lives on. Life is short and your choices will steer you. Make sure they're good ones.
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