Emotional content alert. I suppose it was almost ten years ago when my father and stepmother were in their mid-80s, they were at the point of attending lots of funerals of friends. Since that time my stepmother has passed and as I have posted here, my father is fading although still with us.

In all the talk of “sixty is the new forty”, etc., and we do generally live longer and healthier lives now, we Babyboomers have a tendency to make assumptions about our own longevity. Last year, although not due to COVID, my local circle and extended circle lost five women, ranging from early 80s to late 60s. One was an especially good friend and what made it all the more difficult was each death was very sudden. Lingering illnesses have a separate tragedy, yet it does provide the ability to at least somewhat prepare for loss. And of course, culturally, if we are talking about an older friend or relative, there is the concept of, “it was their time”.

A few days ago, a friend of 30-plus years notified us her husband died after a two-week bout with pneumonia. They are both several years younger than us and even though he did have some health issues, none were in the life-threatening category. She and his family are of course devastated. They have no children and actually relocated barely a year ago from their longtime home in Virginia. Ironically the move was partially to be closer to some specialized medical treatment for a entirely different condition. This is another case of, “It isn’t supposed to happen”, and all I can do at the moment is be available to her. I’ve been with her before for tough periods in her life; all of which were relatively short-term. She’ll have decisions to make about some things and those I can at least help with.