Foreword: Death and dying isn't something that you think about all the time. That is until you get older. Well, since I am getting older, and I subscribe to magazines geared toward older people, more is written about death and dying. Gruesome, right! Today's story tells about what I have found published recently in a variety of books and magazines as well as newspapers. Is it just me, or do you think death and dying is more on the minds of many in today's society?
It was an ordinary day. Reading an amazing article in AARP titled "A New Age". A multi-page article that features photographs from the acclaimed photojournalists of Magnum Photos which captured scenes of aging around the world. I'm not sure, but I believe I would be titled as old by many who are reading this story. I'll be 75 years old in a few months, but I find that I am just as busy today as I was when I taught school. I still work three part-time jobs that I enjoy, go on vacation to beautiful places in the world, take in many athletic events that my grandkids participate in, take care of an acre of landscape around my home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and still find time to write a story a day on my blog which I began nine years ago. And, I'm not old! Not to me. Yeah, some days I have a hard time with my leg, foot and back, but I have it better than most people my age and perhaps better than many who are younger than me. Another story I recently read told that Swiss immunologist, Rolf Zinkernagel, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1996 believes that the lifespan of humans has far exceeded what it was intended it to be. He believes that we were built to reach 25 years of age and all the rest is luxury. Many now face an old age spent in nursing homes. And, who wants to spend the rest of our lives in a place that values safety and protocol over independence and living. So what are the consequences for society if the average life expectancy were to reach...say 100 years old? He says we face the prospect of a large amount of centenarians cared for by poorly paid immigrants. The children of these centenarians can expect to work well into their 70s and possibly their 80s which will mean less opportunities for the young to get work. Baby boomers are now reaching their 60s and 70s and demand a well-funded and active lifestyle. My dad lived to be 87 years old while my mom lived to be 90. What does that mean for me? Is living to be that old bad for society? I must admit that today I spend more time visiting doctors than I did when I was 25 or even 50. But so what! Medicine today is keeping us alive, be it good or bad. Would it be best to die younger to allow more space on our planet for those that are being born today? Today, life expectancy for the average woman in the United States is 81 while for men it is 76. If I use those numbers...you will only be reading this blog for another year. Kind of scary...at least for me! But, since I made it this far, I may have more than one year left, since life expectancy is based on the age of death from the day you were born and since I have just about reached my maximum age, it will increase since many others have died before me to help my chances of reaching a higher age. Does that make sense? So how do most people die? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies the ways to die into 113 causes, which are grouped into 20 categories of disease and external causes. About a third of people die from diseases of the respiratory system and the rest is so gruesome that I have decided to end this story at this point. Too depressing! Have to grab my beach chair and umbrella and head down the street to the beach. Hope to post another story tomorrow...God willing. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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