Time : Past / Present

[Wayne Goodwin]

You get up in the morning . Pick up your newspaper or online . You go to Obituaries to see who passed away . There in front of you in black and white is someone you went to school with , passed away . You see their age then it hit's you . You are the same age . Where did that time go ? Am i next ?

Would you let it affect your thinking or just let it fly by ?

[uno,dos,3]

You might be next Wayne....but I'll let it fly by.

My classmates have been dying at on a regular basis for the past 10 years. In fact, since many of my classmates live out of State, I e-mail 6 of them about our fallen classmates. The e-mail is entitled Class of '63' Deathwatch.

It's inevitable. Why stew about it?

[dwalt]

Hey, it's almost Friday...lets think of brighter things.

[uno,dos,3]

We're still alive!

[Wayne Goodwin]

I filled up 15 bags of trash outta my back bedroom last night Plus i have a 4 foot high of broken down boxes . Gonna haul to dump tomorrow , Hurray for me ....

[dwalt]

That's the spirit!!! I knew you would come thru on this one!!

[Lifesighs]

For my husband it has already happened to most of his friends. He's 84 and now his high school reunion friends can fit at one table. It was sad to see him losing a lot of friends he worked with over the years.

I've also lost a few, the way it affects my thinking is to be grateful to be here.

[Wayne Goodwin]

I pretty much feel that way too .I read the Obituaries every day because that's the only way to find people i know passed away . Family has little to do with me ....

[Wayne Goodwin]

Sometimes it sparks a memory you have from our youth and remembering the time we had as teenagers and some school memories . I can't hold a regular newspaper . Hands just don't work well anymore . I subscribe to two local newspaper e-editions . That's how i read my paper and is so much easier on my tired old eyes .

[Karin M Fichtner]

I don't live in the town I graduated in, and, honestly, I didn't know those people much anyway.....even back then.  I don't pay any attention.  I have seen a few neighbors and coworkers pass on in the last few years.  And I've outlived two husbands....probly outlive the third one, too, and he's 7 years younger than me. 

No....the only one that bothered me was when the youngest in my personal circle of friends died suddenly back in 2005.  She was only 48 when she died of an aneurysm in the brain.  That took the wind out of my sails.  We were all at least 10 years older than her; she wasn't supposed to die first.....ya know?  She baby-sat my kids, for crying out loud!!  She had a son who was just about to start Kindergarten. 

Yeah.....that one made me think twice.  But normally, I don't pay it much mind. 

[frenchy]

its a bummer for sure but is there really anything anybody can do about it ?? i don't live in the same town i grew up in  and haven't for about 40 years or so .. i still have a small circle of friends that i keep up with and a few news ones that i've met but most of the guys i went to school with are so far in my rearview mirror i don't remember most of their names .. times passes and you just move on .. and so have they .. even the guys i did hang with back in the 70's after high school are all over the map .. atlanta , los angles , alaska , alabama , the jersey shore , i don't think there's anybody left from where i grew up that are still there.. but then it was the projects and you fight like hell to get out of there anyway .. not the kinda place you'd look around and say yeah , i wanna stay here forever . it was the kinda place that if they used it for a movie location you'd know that movie is probably gonna be a tragedy .. it was the kinda place you stayed till you found another place that was better .. not one of them kinda places where everyone knew their neighbors and left their doors unlocked and you got up in the mornin and just smelled the air and would say ahhhh its gonna be a sparklin day .. this song is kinda the sentiment .. its that lets get out of here to somethin better . just skip to 1.29 and avoid all that shmaltzy piano and it really picks up .. the bass really moves it along from there on in and makes you wanna pack up your camaro ..

[Kim]

There are people in their 20's and 30's that die every day. Seeing someone YOUR age or someone 102 should'nt affect you're thinking that you are next. I mean...vegetarians die from cancer and unhealthy people can be sick for decades, and safe drivers are killed in accidents....there's really no way around it...we are all dying at this very moment. It just takes longer and shorter for some!  I DO look at the OBITS at least once a week, mainly to see if anyone ffrom the nursing home I worked have died. There were some pretty old ones there. A couple weeks ago, the same day my client died was the obituary of a retired priest I took care of. He was 102. (and unfortunately, he had Alzheimers and was a mean old man. Probably from the disease)

[uno,dos,3]

I had 3 best friends who I thought I'd spend alot of time with during retirement. 2 died of cancer in their late 50's and 1 of cancer in his early 60's. All of them took great care of themselves physically and were in great shape prior to cancer. There is often little rhyme or reason to life and death.

One day, about 3 years into my retirement (none of my friends saw 1 day of retirement) I was at the local mall and bought a coffee. I sat at a table inside the mall to drink my coffee and as I looked at the 3 empty chair surrounding me at the table I said to myself "well here we all are" and shed a tear or two. Usually I live in the present and don't dwell on the past.

I'll soon be entering my 7th year of retirement. I travel about 4 months a year by land, sea, and air........I embrace the change that traveling brings to my life, always mindful that my time isn't unlimited.