A Harsh Reality of Life...

...is that as you grow older, you wind up seeing more and more of the people you know pass away. Death awaits us all, some sooner than later. Now while I am quite understanding that it is our inevitable end, it is still hard for me, as I suppose it is for anyone else, to lose those whom we have known over the years. Growing older is not an easy thing for more than just physical reasons such as your health. The stress of losing loved ones, friends, associates, coworkers is always with you, the older you become, the more you lose.

Last week I lost a pretty good friend, he was a coworker. He was 68 and died of a heart attack. He apparently thought he had indigestion, or maybe he refused to admit to himself it may have been a heart attack. His death probably could have been prevented by going to the hospital or calling 911. He was in pain for many hours before he died, all the classic heart attack symptoms, pain in the chest, tightening, a feeling of indigestion, then pain in the left arm. He died on New Year's day. What a shame. He was a good man.

Another person I knew passed away two days ago, I got word of it yesterday. He was 58, and while he was not a close friend, he had been a coworker of many years who had been retired now for about 6 or 7 years. While we were not close friends, we were on friendly terms, and I really liked the guy. He died of lung cancer, another thing that maybe could have been avoided. He had his quirks but he was a good guy too.

I had not seen either in at least a couple of years for one, and several for the other, yet that does not make it easier when people we know die, sometimes it makes it harder for us to accept, to cope with. Yeah, I know, we all have to go, death is unavoidable, at least for mortal men. It just is damned hard seeing people go like that as you grow older. Heck I thought seeing almost everyone I have worked with over the years retire before me was tough, it does not even compare to seeing them pass away. They will be missed, forever - as long as my forever lasts.

All the best,
Glenn B