Another Day, Another death

 

It seems every day I hear of a new death.  

Sometimes it is celebrity. Sometimes a friend, relative, neighbor or just someone I pass regularly on the street to smile at and say ça va to and they respond ça va.

Today it was another classmate from RMHS 60. Not surprising that most of us are either 80 or about to turn 80. The list of lost classmates is no longer short. As a class, we lost one man in Vietnam. Over the decades there were car accidents and illnesses but more and more names are being added with each passing year.

A friend told me of John's passing. I had a crush on him in fourth grade and thought he had the most beautiful eyes. We didn't have classes together nor did we share activities. At our regular five-year class reunions we exchanged pleasantries. With Facebook we reconnected, expressed our differences politically. He was conservative, I am a socialist. I suspect I annoyed him at times with my views.

I respected the success he made of his life, his long marriage, a rarity in today's world. The world needs good men like he was.

My parents who lived in a Florida retirement community would call and tell me of the passing of their friends, Herb, Vi, Sven, June, etc. people I'd met when I visited.

One by one all my aunts and uncles died. So far only two cousins have died.

My kid brother died early this year.

I know this is the normal way of the world. People are born, live and die. 

I think of my stepmom, who was the only survivor of her generation of our family and most of her friends. She has mentioned how strange it was. I understood then without feeling it. Now I understand and feel it.

Each death is a reminder of how precious life is. I won't waste it.