Serious musings ahead. There was a short-lived TV series, “Men of A Certain Age”, that I intended to catch because of the great cast, but for whatever reason, I never got around to it. Last week and this, I have run headlong into events that do belong to “people of a certain age”.

One my aunts passed away last week and even though she was only 80 (which no longer seems very old), she had a stroke several months ago and her recovery was not progressing as well as had been hoped. Then she had a turn for the worse which caused them to enter her into hospice. She is at peace now and was surrounded by family in the last days.

A friend has been admitted into the hospital with what is thankfully not the heart attack as first thought, but diagnosis is pending as numerous tests are being run. Another friend is starting to recover from a fall that fortunately resulted in a sprain rather than a break. That, nonetheless has meant days of being confined at home. On the other hand, the World Cup is providing a distraction. Yet another friend very nearly died in an accident while on an motorized vehicle. The prognosis is quite good, but it will take time, effort, and coping with a lot of pain during the process. Now, in all fairness, motorized vehicle accidents occur to people of all ages – how well one can heal does tend to be slower as we get older.

In a couple of cases, not having family nearby means the network of friends becomes quite important. None of us like to think of becoming temporarily disabled, yet as we age, the probability does increase. Having a plan of who one can turn to in a variety of situations is worth giving some thought to.