Turning 75 wasn’t a
particular bother for me; I knew it was coming, after all. My birthday came and
went, my age was noted by me and others, and I moved on. And then, for some
inexplicable reason, it hit me: 75 years is three-quarters of a century! Holy
crap. I mean it’s the same number of years. But for some reason outside the
realm of common sense and rationality, I saw my age in an entirely different
light.
And then, just to torture
myself further, I looked up life expectancy. Big mistake: for my age, it was
76.91years, giving me about a year to go. That’s for white males in the United
States in Illinois, number 26 from the top (surprisingly, the District of
Columbia with 82.07). I could still be in Texas, 75.63, or Oklahoma where I
would already be dead: 73.74*.
Okay, these are just
numbers. And there are many websites, many with different numbers. I can’t even
vouch for the accuracy of this site’s figures.
One site had me shuffling off at 63. Still, it’s an interesting number
if not of any particular use.
The statistic is further
disconcerting when I consider how many of my friends have died. Just recently
Joe, back in Texas, a pilot in Vietnam, wounded twice. And then there Bil (yes,
one L), here in Chicago, who battled bone cancer for the eight or so years I
knew him, but who finally succumbed. And then there was my beloved Donna, dying
of ALS: “Dying by inches,”** as someone put it. I met Donna on January 2, 1968.
But I need another whole blog to write about her. And then my parents and
grandparents . . .
So, what does all this mean?
I’m not depressed by these thoughts; instead, there is a mild curiosity, not
helped by the fact that we can’t, usually, know when the lights will go out.
And I’m not philosopher enough to dredge up any meaning from it all. I just
thought it was interesting and something to mull over--as I have a probably
unhealthy cup of coffee and shortly to have a probably unhealthy two cocktails,
as is my evening wont, and eat a probably unhealthy dinner of too much fat and
calories.
May as well enjoy that final
descent into oblivion.
And I do hope readers aren’t
depressed by this meditation on death. I’m not.
*https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-white-male
**I was unable to find the
original speaker of this quote; it has been used by many people, including
Charles Darwin, but I have no idea who said it first.
