After over a decade of silence ...

I had never thought that I would be so silent for so long. Yet here we are. Regardless, I'll try to catch us up on what has been transpiring in my life. 

 

First off, I am still alive - thank God - when I should have, by rights, been gone 7 years ago. Both my father and my grandfather passed on at that age. I am living my bonus years, thanks to medicine and a newfound awareness that fitness is not just a nice-to-be-seen activity, but actually something that gives tangible returns. It helps this body, mind complex to continue existing in 'living' form more effectively and efficiently. 

 

We owe it to our co-live'rs (to coin a word for those who are living with us - whether other halves, children or other forms of caretakers) to keep the mechanical parts working as efficiently as possible. 

 

We also owe it to them that we make wills - living wills as they are known - to clarify HOW we want to keep the mechanics functioning, as they (inevitably) deteriorate over time. 

 

Make sure that we gather them all into a single room and convey what it is that we need done, in case the functioning of the brain behind all the mechanics, decides to stop functioning. Debilitating diseases like Parkinson's (as afflicted my mother), Dementia, Alzheimer's or a stroke that causes the brain to stop functioning can make it well nigh impossible to convey what one wants done AFTER the debilitating event. 

I cannot stress the above paragraph enough, because these events can (and do) happen without warning, or with a deliberate slowness that makes it impossible to determine a good time to convey your wishes.