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Because it’s Easter Sunday, a day to rejoice, a day of hope and renewal, I could think of no better time to share a story about a brave young woman named Christine Youells.
When country music star Tim McGraw recorded his stirring wake-up anthem, “Live Like You Were Dying,” he wasn’t reaching out to someone like Chris, who at 45 years old is actually dying. No, he was encouraging the rest of us to do that because, well, you never know.
However, Chris Youells could have been Tim McGraw’s inspiration. Even though she is now under the care of Hospice and unafraid of what awaits her, she said she doesn’t plan to leave this earth “without a fight.”
Her battle with cystic fibrosis, a deadly disease that affects the lungs and digestive system, is nearing an end. She knows it and accepts it with incredible grace.
Song’s meaning
In McGraw’s poignant song, he tells of a guy in his early 40s with “a lot of life” before him until “a moment came that stopped me on a dime.”
Faced with the reality that this could really be the end, McGraw sings, “How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news? Man, what do you do?”
He was told, “I went sky divin’, I went rocky mountain climbin’, I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu. And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter…..”
“An he said, Some day, I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dyin’.”
Unfortunately, once you realize your days are numbered, it’s too late to do that.
Truly inspiring
I met Chris Youells only recently. And I can tell you she inspires and puts to shame those of us, probably most of us, who allow daily annoyances like long lines, cold weather, hot weather, rude clerks, you name it, to ruin our days.
Chris said 10 of the happiest years of her life were spent with her ex-boyfriend Miklos with whom she shared a house in the Poconos. She said she’d love to hop in a car and visit that home one more time, but she knows she can’t. So she does the next best thing, taking pleasure in remembering that special place and that special man.
“He made sure I never felt bad,” the 1987 Wyoming Valley West graduate and former Plymouth resident said.
She may be unable to go sky divin’ or rocky mountain climbin’ or go back to her Pocono home, but Chris does love deeper and speaks sweeter. She lives in the home of her caregiver Madeline Setzer of Falls and is pretty much confined to her hospital bed, many times struggling to breathe. Still, she doesn’t complain and hasn’t stopped enjoying what little she can.
“It’s a way of life. You learn how to deal.”
Despite her physical pain and her life being shortchanged, Chris is upbeat. She forgives those who drifted when she got really sick, including some family members. She gives them the benefit of the doubt as to why they did. Incredibly, she still loves much in life, especially her dog Brandy, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who sits protectively at the foot of her bed, bringing a smile to her face.
But it’s her bedrock faith that has kept her strong.
“I really believe everything will be all right,” she says with such conviction. Asked where she thinks she’ll be going, without hesitation, she answered ever so sweetly, “Heaven, of course.”
Her caregiver Maddie said she hesitated when a nurse asked her to take care of Chris. She said after meeting her, she cried all the way home, thinking, “I can’t do this. I’m used to watching the elderly die.” But there was something about this amazing woman that made her reconsider.
“She was happy. She didn’t want anyone around her who was going to be whining and boo hooing.”
‘No pity parties for me’
As for Chris, she truly believes that certain people, like Maddie, were meant to enter her life. “I am so so surprised at the kindness of strangers. I’ve been lucky to get people I need in my life.”
Now as she faces death head-on, Chris is firm. “There will be no pity parties for me.”
WOW.
She was so sincere when she said it’s important to do the things you enjoy while you can.
Or to live like you were dying.
Chris Youells understands that song. Do you?