The day before you die.

A very short true story.

What would you do if it was your last day on earth?

This brings me to a woman I know who was going in for a very dangerous surgery. The day before her procedure could have been her last full day on earth. She was fully aware of the gravity of having a tumor removed from her pancreas. She was diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer that had spread but the doctors were able to shrink the tumor enough that surgery was a last-ditch option to prolong her life.

I envisioned her spending the day with her two children and a couple of her good friends. They would meet for a nice, dinner. Later on, maybe she would take a scented bath, listen to her favorite music, fluff her pillows, and sit up in bed to look through the photo album her children put together last year.

But noooooo, that’s not what she did. Let me set the stage a bit before I tell you what she actually did that day.

This woman is beyond wealthy. She inherited a huge business from her parents many years ago. Not only did she maintain the business, but she expanded it. Recently, she sold the business for millions in the double digits. She has four properties left after selling other properties in the Northeast. These properties are in Florida, except for one that is in a New Jersey shore town. She is a snowbird. She wants for nothing.

The day before her surgery, she went shopping. She bought a frying pan at Walmart. After that she went to another supermarket and there she saw the same pan for a $1.36 less. She went back to Walmart and insisted that they give her back $1.36 and they did. She made a huge stink there and they folded.

Later that evening she went to a pizza joint. The restaurant had added a fee if you use a credit card. When the waitress gave her the check, she freaked at the fee. She screamed at the waitress so loudly that the poor girl started to cry. The owner came by the table and explained that the rule has been in place since last summer and he knows it wasn’t a new thing for her since she is a regular customer. He told her if it bothered her that much, then she should bring cash. Well, that was it. She vowed never to return.

And she never did, the next day she bled out on the operating table.

photo credit: sven brandsma unsplash