Fast Life, Slow Dance

My friend may die today. He is fighting for his life with advanced lung disease. After attending a Christmas Party at my publishers in Ventura, I may have to stop at UCLA and say the final good-bye to Len. He just turned 50.

While the below poem has circulated on the internet under the false pretense of being written by a young girl dying with cancer, nevertheless, it expresses simple wisdom that all of us should hear, especially at Christmas time. As I think about Len, I think about life and how to live it. Here's to slow dancing to the music of life.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

''Do you run through each day
On the fly?''

When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower

Hear the music
Before the song is over.