Those of us who are contemporaries of Council president Wayne Matewsky understand what he is going through following a heart attack and triple by-pass.
Those two are the rough equivalent of Matewsky having been inside the ring with Mohammed Ali or George Foreman for 15 rounds during which time they hit him with 500 sledgehammer punches to the head and stomach.
Recovering from a heart attack and a quadruple bypass is good news.
The bad news would have been if the heart attack got him, and surgery was not possible.
Matewsky faces months of getting back to his regular self.
Everyone with a heart condition or cardiovascular disease, everyone who has suffered a heart attack big or small, and who has survived and recovered from heart surgery can agree – it beats being dead.
Convalescing beats being sick.
Matewsky is a tough guy.
He wants to get better, and he wants to get back to where he was.
He will find that he must work hard to rebuild his body and to get it back into fighting shape.
If he can do that, then he has achieved the ultimate gifts – the gifts of life and good health.
Wayne will be back before we know it.