It is Monday morning and as I sit to write, I still feel a little sense of shock. On Friday, we lost a pillar of our community. Since we heard of Bruce’s diagnosis, we hoped there was a mistake. I mean, how can this guy with a shredded 6 pack, crushing WODs have stage 4 pancreatic cancer?! It really didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense and it sure doesn’t seem fair. It never does. As I have tried to make some sense of all this, I have had a few thoughts that I will share.
In the beginning, a lot of people said, “why even train?”, “if it can get him, I am screwed!”, “what’s the point of doing all the right things if you die early anyways?”. Some of these thoughts even crossed my mind. I think because I was sad and angry at something that we have no control over. Then I think of what Bruce said as he was leaving our house after telling us the news…”It’s okay, I have had a really good 54 years.”
That stuck with me and I thought a lot about it. We really don’t know when our time is up. And as cliché as it sounds – it is not the quantity of life we get, it’s the quality in which we live it. Wow, did Bruce have quality. He has a beautiful family that he and Chris adore (and they adore right back). He had a ton of friends and people he inspired. He had some stressful jobs and saw a lot of “bad” things in his time, however he never let on or walked around with a “doom and gloom’ attitude. He would come to the gym every day with a smile and have gratitude that he could train and do all he could do in a day.
That is why you do what you do. You should take care of your body and mind. You should find your “tribe” or in Bruce’s case, “tribes”. You should be a part of something – a community of people, because in the end – that is what matters – the people!
Over the past few months, I have watched thousands of people mobilize to support the Gordons. This is a true testament to the quality of life he led. Just by working hard - he inspired, just by being kind - he inspired. These were a part of his character, not things he forced and it was noticed and appreciated by those around him. #BELIKEBRUCE will forever be his legacy. What an amazing legacy that is. You see people wearing the shirts, holding a sign, and maybe just pushing a little harder through things to “Be like Bruce”. To me, I think that is amazing.
To be honest, the fragility of life becomes more apparent to me every day. A part of it scares me, because I know I have so much that I want to see, do and accomplish and I hope and pray that I have the privilege of getting lots of gray hair and wrinkles with many stories to tell my grandchildren. Life is just that – a privilege. So, make sure to get up each day and really live. I know that we still have to work and run kids around and clean toilets, but the challenge is to find the joyful side of all those things (yes, even in cleaning a toilet).
In the end, I think that we just need to be good people and good citizens of the world. Let go of anger and jealousy. Forgive more, love more, have more patience, challenge yourself, and BE KIND always to all things. I think that will help us to have quality of life.
Thank you Bruce, for being a great role model. Thank you Chris, for being an amazing woman and friend. Thank you Bruce, Chris, James and Jill for being a part of our community. Thank you to all members of our community for being loving and supporting, not only during this time, but always. I couldn’t ask for a better “tribe”.
On Wednesday, we will be celebrating Bruce’s life. We will be doing a WOD in his honour – Our hero WOD – “Bruce”. We will have classes at 6, 7, 10, 11 and noon. We will close after the noon class so that all coaches and members have the opportunity to attend the service. It will be at 3:00pm at Elim Church – 419 Slimmon Road. Details are in the obituary as well as on the board at the gym.
For those that would like to come for a work-out (non-members), you are more than welcome.
Rest easy Bruce