How old are you?

[sighyoung]

When this is all over, I'd really like to grab a beer with Rad (again) and Sigh (for the first time).

Count me in.

I'll buy.

[sighyoung]

It's interesting to revisit this thread. My mother passed in early December from COVID-19, and my daughter will choose a college in the next month. My wife and I won't be empty-nesters because my son will come back from abroad this summer, but we're headed that way.

But now I'm definitely thinking of quality of life as I age. My parents' social isolation really harmed them: my dad died because he wouldn't seek medical attention soon enough, and my mother would have died years ago if I hadn't intervened. Additionally, I wasn't able to check on my mother regularly in her nursing home because of the pandemic, and I'm sure that was difficult for her. I really wish they had traveled, but they wouldn't even leave St. Louis to visit me when I had children--fears of traveling, primarily--but what a loss, because they were great with my son and daughter, and really enjoyed their company.

By contrast, a good friend of mine just died from a rare form of liver cancer at 70--he was healthy, active, and then he was suddenly diagnosed and gone. But he traveled, enjoyed the outdoors, when to concerts and museums, enjoyed a second wonderful marriage after he was widowed, and used his business know-how to start or aid a handful of non-profit organizations. He was a terrific guy, and I'm in complete shock. But he got so much out of life, and gave to so many--and is sorely missed.

I can't help but think about my mother, who was so wonderful to me and my brothers, but was so introverted and self-protective that few knew her at the time of her death.

[GeddyWrox]

Damn Sigh. Some heavy stuff. I totally get it though. Hopefully you have many, many great years left!

[Fat_Bulldog]

I'm sorry you're going through all of this sigh.

[Radbird]

Amazing post, sigh. My condolences on the loss of your friend.

The isolation of the past year, even though caused by circumstances beyond my control, has its grip on me. I have to fight the feeling that this is my life going forward. Due to the overlap of retirement & pandemic, I understand why this is happening but I gotta tell you, it scares the [expletive] out of me. The lesson here is the importance of relationships and human connection. Over the next few months, I’m coming out of my shell and starting the process of reaching out to folks.

[thrill]

I can't help but think about my mother, who was so wonderful to me and my brothers, but was so introverted and self-protective that few knew her at the time of her death.

This was true of my grandma, who passed two years ago, and I think about it at least once a week. I'm trying to be cognizant of how lonely aging can be if you don't actively open up to others. No matter how much I might prefer to shrink my social circles as I age, it's not the healthy move long-term. I'm 35, so I'm not even speaking about end of life issues, but unpacking my grandma's final years lead me to realize that the erosion of her social support started decades earlier.


On a more lighthearted note, I'd love to identify the youngest active poster. Message boards are such old school social networks that I don't think our youngest active poster will be below 30. Certainly not below 25. Maybe I'm wrong, tho.

[G. Keenan]

Well as we were just saying, I was 23 when we started GRB. You were 21, no?

What are young ass kids like that on these days? Clubhouse or some [expletive]? TikTok?

Btw, who uses Snapchat anymore? Snapchat seems to have gotten replaced by TikTok pretty fast. I felt too old for Snapchat. How lame is that?