Interesting how different people interpret the same words

This is more of a life post, nothing about sports, but it's interesting to me how different people can interpret the same email to mean two different things. There is a little bit of background to go with this post, that I think needs to be shared for things to make sense.

My Aunt Bonnie was a wonderful person who was always a lot of fun to be around has been battling cancer for awhile, and to my knowledge had been doing quite well. I was able to see her in 2008 when I traveled to report on the Women's Final Four, and the last two summers at our house and I am very grateful that I got to see her so often. I have and always will hope to surround myself with people like her. She was loving, had good values, cared for her family and was just fun to be around.

Anyway, I got an email last night saying that she was struggling and that her breathing was weak and that she had just gotten into the hospice. It didn't say she was about to die, yet I got the feeling from reading it and knowing the person who wrote it, that things were coming to a close quickly. I responded with best wishes knowing that I may not have enough time to send a card, as the email suggested you might be able to send.

Anyone who read the email knew things had taken a turn for the worst, yet my father didn't interpret the email as I did. He was much more surprised than I was when he heard the news today that Aunt Bonnie had died. It's not that he was surprised it happened, but that it had happened so quickly.

Somehow I knew that my uncle, who is a Retired Naval Officer, would only send out an email like the one he sent if things were very serious and drawing to a close. As a Naval Officer he dealt with facts and not speculation and somehow because of that it helped me pick up on the fact that things were drawing to a close quickly. I just interpreted that email much differently than my dad did for some reason.

I guess what I want to say is that knowing your sender and how they communicate can really help you understand the message being sent. Different people communicate differently and if you can figure out how they do you can pick up on what they are trying to say.

I'm also glad I got to honor my Aunt a little bit. I don't want any sympathy though, she lived a good life, and I would not have written about something so private unless it inspired me to write something else. I also don't want reading this to bring anyone down either. She lived a good life and just enjoyed a good vacation. I think she would consider herself lucky to have lived in a nice home and have two successful children and four amazing grandsons. Life was good to her and she wouldn't want people to be brought down and to think of her own problems.