The down-side of aging

Got a call last night from a friend's daughter letting me know her mom had died in November. My friend was 74 and a vibrant politically active go-getter who advocated on behalf of those who are usually forgotten.

Coming one week after hearing about my other friend's death - I am a bit discombobulated. My age is about half way between that of these two and it leaves me wondering - and sad.

I know that as we age we lose friends and family. My own mother who lived to be 95 once lamented that all her friends from her past had died. She had newer friends, mostly younger than her, but those are a different kind of friend; you do not have the same history with them. Well - unless you meet the new ones and then live another 40-60 years....

I have new friends in Portland, but I have only known them at max for 4 years. Some are my age; many younger. Maybe we will all grow as close as I was to my older friends - those from childhood, college, grad school and on....I hope so.

Life - and death

I got a phone call this morning from an old friend back East telling me that a mutual friend had died while on vacation overseas with her daughters...

All day I have had old memories stirred wherein the 2 of us did things together. We were both in grad school in Boston during the 60's - then lived near each other in a Boston suburb in the 70's - and her kids are just a little older than my son. In fact, I wore her maternity clothes all during my pregnancy. We both lived in D.C. at the same time for a few years too.

What my head has trouble with is that we never know when is our last day [she was just 62]. I'm sure she foresaw a future with grandchildren at her home. I'm sure she had a work schedule planned out for when she returned from this trip. And I'm sure, like several of her friends including me, her desk is a mess and her affairs not in any semblance of order....

Although sad, I am now working harder at the projects I started this year. Because, although healthy, I'm not getting any younger...none of us is...