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How much longer is the road ahead?
As of a few weeks ago I have outlived both of my parents, as well as my younger brother.
And relatively speaking I’m not that old — I turned 63 in August.
My father passed away at 46, the result of a toxic combination of diabetes, smoking, alcoholism, stress and poor decisions.
My mother died the day after her 63rd birthday, her own lifetime smoking habit catching up with her in the form of emphysema and lung cancer.
My younger brother, despite living a pretty healthy life, got stomach cancer and didn’t quite make it to his 57th birthday.
Oddly, in the generation that preceded my parents there were grandparents who lived well into their 80’s and 90’s, and apparently one great-grandmother who lived so long she and almost everyone around her lost track.
So theoretically the gene pool leans towards longevity, barring bad habits — yet this particular milestone feels worthy of some reflection.
By this point in my life at least some of my most important work is done. I’ve raised two sons to be kind, loving, hard-working citizens and I’ve done it largely on my own. While they still enjoy the fact that I pay for great trips and the odd nice dinner, and they like to tap me for life advice every now and again, I’m confident that they are both…
