Death Watch

Cartoon by Roz Chast

My husband's college alumni magazine came in the mail today, and he did what he always does with it: check to see if anyone from his graduating class died. If not, phew--dodged a bullet! If so, then he's slightly bummed out. This is a common mistake people make--believing that only old people kick the bucket, when we all know that any age is appropriate for moving on to the next level. Still, when we hear that someone exactly our age has died, it makes us nervous. The worst is when it's someone a few years younger, making us think we're on borrowed time.

It's stupid, given the facts, but we all do it. The other thing we do is say, "But he was so young!" when we hear about someone our age or near our age who died, even if they were like 59 or 64 or 73. Hey, guess what: that's not young! Young is 20 or 12 or 6 or 33 and all those numbers like that.

I can't write anymore, I gotta get outside and walk over Niagara Falls or run a marathon or see India or something. Whatever, I must live my life. (What's left of it.)