"Let us live so that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry." - Mark Twain
The grandmother of a friend of mine passed away recently, which, as usually happens with an event I am not intimately involved with, allows me the opportunity to reflect and ponder.
Naturally, I thought first of my own parents. My dad is 63 and my mom will turn 60 this summer. For the most part, they are still mobile, active, mostly able to do everything they've always done. I hear reports every so often (mostly from my dad) of high blood pressure, gout, and a sore back, while my mom is plagued every now and then with a migraine.
General old people malaise, you know?
No cancers, operations, strokes, heart attacks, terrible accidents, ad nauseum. And what I realized today is, I'd better enjoy that time with them the very best I can. I live near my parents during a relatively healthy stretch of their existence. I'd better not squander it!
Thinking of my parents' health naturally leads to me thinking of my lifestyle choices. Am I active everyday? Am I doing something with my brain everyday? Am I living every day?
I hope so. I'm trying. After all, when I die, I want even the undertaker to be sorry that I'm going.
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