At the end of September I made a trip to Tampa, Florida. It was hotter than hell out there but the trip was not a vacation trip. I was visiting my aunt and cousin; the last U.S. relatives from my father’s side.
My aunt was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer and my wife thought we should visit before we go on our Maine vacation; just in case. We had a great visit. Took her to the beach, ate at her favorite restaurant, walked around the block, all, as it turned out, for the last time; she died a few days after we returned from Maine.
People of my generation, the baby boomer generation, are in life positions where they may have elderly and needy parents or relatives (mother 87 / father-in-law 92) on the one hand with young and needy grandchildren (and children in some cases) on the other.
Many generations obviously have been in similar positions but this time is different because I am in that position.
People my age (62) can start receiving Social Security, some have retired, some, like me, are semi-retired, some have to work full time to make ends meet but, I think, we are all aware that we are deep into the second half of our very finite life.
If you keep busy which most of us are, you may not give life longevity a second thought but I feel many of us do allow the thought of an ebbing existence to brush against our consciousness once in awhile.
My aunt’s passing and my visit with her, looking over old family photos, gave me pause. We all will have to evaluate our lives and grade them as to what we intended and what we accomplished at some point and if we had to do it over, what would we do different.
My nephew interviewed me about my military service and my decisions at that time for a school project he had to do. He asked if I had to do it over again would I have done something different. My thinking was that I was part of a generational movement, some went one way and others went a different way. In my case, it turned out to be the right way for me although at 18, I doubt I was giving anything much thought.
My aunt was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer and my wife thought we should visit before we go on our Maine vacation; just in case. We had a great visit. Took her to the beach, ate at her favorite restaurant, walked around the block, all, as it turned out, for the last time; she died a few days after we returned from Maine.
People of my generation, the baby boomer generation, are in life positions where they may have elderly and needy parents or relatives (mother 87 / father-in-law 92) on the one hand with young and needy grandchildren (and children in some cases) on the other.
Many generations obviously have been in similar positions but this time is different because I am in that position.
People my age (62) can start receiving Social Security, some have retired, some, like me, are semi-retired, some have to work full time to make ends meet but, I think, we are all aware that we are deep into the second half of our very finite life.
If you keep busy which most of us are, you may not give life longevity a second thought but I feel many of us do allow the thought of an ebbing existence to brush against our consciousness once in awhile.
My aunt’s passing and my visit with her, looking over old family photos, gave me pause. We all will have to evaluate our lives and grade them as to what we intended and what we accomplished at some point and if we had to do it over, what would we do different.
My nephew interviewed me about my military service and my decisions at that time for a school project he had to do. He asked if I had to do it over again would I have done something different. My thinking was that I was part of a generational movement, some went one way and others went a different way. In my case, it turned out to be the right way for me although at 18, I doubt I was giving anything much thought.
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