Than a baby shower

In my journey of reflecting as a middle-aged man about living and dying, gracefully aging and trying my best to live a good and honest life, it seems like the dying part is getting more and more center-stage in my reflections.

Marking two upcoming funerals to attend in November on my calendar yesterday was another stark reminder of this truth of mine.

It also seems that others have taken note of my death and dying reflections.  Some might describe me as having a preoccupation about it.  Hopefully nobody will see it as a compulsive obsession.

Take my banker, for example, who read my book while relaxing and tanning on a Santa Cruz beach on vacation several months ago.  I had a chance to chat with him one day when he returned from vacation.  He shared how he liked my book but thought the dying reflections contents were a little too much to swallow. 

I’ve pondered about the same and have confessed that my thinking about dying is something crossing my mind perhaps more than the average middle-aged man.

My reply to his observation is that our truth of the matter is ‘tis the season as some might say.  This death and dying stuff is the current chapter in our book of life we’re more likely to experience. 

Yes, we’re more likely at this chapter of our middle-aged man lives to find ourselves attending a funeral than a baby shower.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum