Life itself writes the hardest stories

When you least expect it, fate prepares another test for you.

It was hot. I had a demanding and stressful day and I finally laid down on the couch for a while. I told myself that I would at least rest for a few minutes.

At that moment the bell rang.

No one was supposed to come. I didn't make an appointment with anyone. It crossed my mind that it might be leaflets. I picked up the receiver from the house phone.

A woman's voice spoke up.

She said her name.

A name I haven't heard in years.

And in a single second, years of memories flashed before my eyes. Some beautiful ones. But the last ones are very painful. She was a woman who once managed to hurt me in an unforgettable way.

I only had a few seconds to decide.

Open… or leave the door closed.

I opened it.

I invited her on. She offered her coffee and water. We sat across from each other and there was a silence between us that was louder than any words.

Then she opened her purse.

She pulled out the medical records.

I know those records. I know that logo too.

I moved the folder to me and started reading.

Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy….

And finally the last line.

Palliative care.

I looked at the diagnosis.

Then to her. Again to the diagnosis. And again to her.

I didn't understand.

I asked her why she came to me.

She pointed to the last highlighted line.

"I'm trying to fix everything I've done wrong in my life," she said quietly. "And the last thing I have left… is you."

Then she repeated the sentence I once told her.

That malice, envy and intrigue will return to life one day. In a form he won't expect.

I wanted to argue that they are just phrases.

But she stopped me.

She said that when she heard her diagnosis, my words came to mind. From that moment on, she tried to fix everything that could be fixed.

He just couldn't turn back the time. She came for youthe only one. Forforgiveness.

She didn't want to leave this world with a grudge. And you know what was strange?

Suddenly we stopped talking about the past.

We talked about life. About what she went through, about my departure to London. About falls that change a person, about things that look completely different today than they did back then.

I gave her my book Pandemic Truth or Forbidden Questions. She smiled.

She said she already had it at home. Even with dedication.

And she admitted that she trusted the system back then. That today she looks at many things differently and that she asks herself questions to which she may never get an answer, whether it is related to her diagnosis….

When she left, I hugged her. The woman who once hurt me so much. I forgave her.

I wished her peace. And I told her that if she needed anything, she could call me. She doesn't live far from Brno and I like to come to see her.

She smiled. She said she would like to meet for coffee one day.

Before she closes her eyes for the last time. I closed the door behind her.

And at that moment, my legs gave up. I dropped to the ground and just sat there for long minutes.

I thought about what I had just witnessed.

Over how strange life can be.

How long people sometimes carry pain, guilt or hatred.

And how little time they sometimes get to put them down.

Perhaps this is why we should not wait for the moment when the doctor tells us that there is not much time left. Don't wait with an apology. Don't wait for forgiveness. Don't wait for reconciliation. Because the greatest tragedy is not death. The greatest tragedy is to leave the world knowing that we had the opportunity to correct our mistakes, but we didn't.

And I realized one thing again today. To forgive does not mean to forget. To forgive means to free yourself above all.

And since I know you're reading and following me, I want to tell you just one thing.

You are no longer alone.

I'll call you tomorrow. Let's have that coffee together we talked about. And if you need a hand, I'll be there.

Because at the end of life, it doesn't matter who was right, who won, or who hurt whom. It only matters if we were able to be human.

And I believe that everyone deserves a second chance sometimes. While we still have time.