Fifty Plus (50+) - Strange sensations

It's hard enough to console your younger sister on the loss of her husband, but then to find out that your 50 year old cousin is also recently widowed becomes a bit overwhelming!!

Male relatives are dropping like flies! It's time again to re-evaluate, time to remind myself, life is too short and unpredictable to get all engrossed in working and planning for the future. It's time again to re-enforce that life is to be enjoyed. I feel a mini-vacation coming on very soon. Maybe I'll even discover another swell bike shop someplace....

Just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear of the loss in your family... Re-evaluation of ones life is not always a bad thing, but conditions such as you have described don't make it a pleasant thing. I would hope all of us in this forum have been around long enough to know, that there are never any guarantees in life, and it should be enjoyed in the moment as much as possible. I wish you well in you "re-evaluation", but more so, I would just wish you happiness.

There is nothing more precious than THIS day.

Sorry to hear of the losses in your life.

It's time again to re-evaluate, time to remind myself, life is too short and unpredictable to get all engrossed in working and planning for the future.

Yep. Dunno who said it (and it may be an exaggeration) but, "nobody ever died wishing they'd spent more time at the office."

...and condolences to your family on their (your) losses.

SP
Bend, OR

Condolences to you and your family, Cranky.

Sorry to hear of your losses. A mini-vacation sounds like a great idea.

Someone once said something like "a permanent vacation is a state of mind." I try to live that way. It pisses people off, though.

I ride for fun and to stay healthy.

Work isn't necessarily a bad thing. If it is, you probably need to change jobs! I've done lots of different things for a living, but have always been attracted to those things that are more like play than work. Farm & ranch real estate brokerage, aircraft broker, marina general manager. All were/are careers that I enjoyed so much it didn't seem like work.

Like riding a bike. We invest effort, but it's so darned fun that there's no work to it (except for those times we ride uphill into the wind on a cold day).

I say, live each day like it's our last. Do what you enjoy. And inflict more happiness on your fellow humans than misery.

And for God's sake... DON'T SMOKE!

Good grief!!

As we were driving away from my brother-in-laws funeral (my sister's husband) on the west side of town my bride turned her cell phone back on. There was a mesage from the east side of town...her younger brother had a stroke this morning.

I don't mind the fact that most of us are reaching the age where our peers are beginning to leave us. However, my twenty-year-old son has been having a rash of friends die the past couple of years and that is a bit tougher to take. Someone above mentioned to not smoke. One of my son's friends died over winter break by falling off the window ledge he was sitting on (4th story) to smoke in what was supposed to be a smoke-free building. Another crashed his car into a tree the night of his brother's wedding. He was sober, but tired after serving as best man, flying most of the way home and then driving the last two hundred miles. Yet another died in a hospital because the attending staff didn't read his chart to see that he needed his breathing device.

Life is precious. Death may be inevitable, but let's make it work to hunt us down. Hopefully we can all make lots of joy for ourselves and others before the inevitable occurs. I'm sorry for your losses Lenny, but it looks like you are using them to spur yourself on the good things.

Cranky,
First I am so sorry for the loses and for your brother-in-law's stroke. A lot of heart disease is not only smoking (I quit my pipes in 2000) and diet, it is hereditary. My father's family is rife with this. he died at 49 in 1976, his brother had a heart attack at 40, my grandfather on his side died from a stroke as did my grandmother. One sister had severe hypertension and many cousins have passed from this scourge. I ran for years until I fell at work. My BP went up slowly even though work keeps me very active on the jobsites. I listen to the doctor, take my Lisinopril and Niaspan religiously. You can only do what you can and work at keeping the risk factors down as much as possible.

I imagine your riding and lifestyle help out tremendously. The stress is what you control. You work where you can and hopefully at something you love. Don't let any depression creep in from this rash of bad circumstances, use your immediate family and your bicycle to help you out.

Your wife's brother in in my prayers as are you. best of luck my friend.

Bill

From one cranky cyclist to another... plan that vacation NOW... and while you're on it, plan the next!

... Death may be inevitable, but let's make it work to hunt us down.

I love this. Another reason to get faster on my bike - I think it makes me harder to catch.

Seriously, I am sorry for your losses and hope that you will be able to start thinking and acting more in the present than looking forward to the future. My Mom kept busy planning for all of the things that she and my Dad would do someday when the time was right. They both died at 68 within months of each other, never having seen any of those plans come to pass. As trite as it sounds to some, Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero is an option worth considering.

Into each life, some rain must fall, but it seems it's been pouring on you and yours lately. My condolences.
A sunny vacation is definitely in order.

I've been seeing my bike as life-saving medicine. Seriously. Fun, yes. But I honestly believe my "Lady Xizang" is extending my life.


We're all going to die. Every single one of us. We're all just passing through. But maybe we can stick around as long as possible, and stay healthy and viable as long as possible.

Meanwhile, I'm riding my bike and staying right as I can with God.

Sorry to hear about your losses.

It was kind of a rough year here, especially for my Dad's second wife's family. My step-sister lost her brother and her Dad within two weeks. The brother got left hooked on his motorcycle by a school bus and the Dad just died of old age.

I liked the brother and I feel pretty outraged by what happened to him. Seems that the bus driver just got a slap on the wrist. But it certainly was one of those wake up calls to me as well. Everything can end that fast. It got me working again to escape my hum-drum job.

That's probably why I wasn't too upset when I got laid off on New Year's Eve. And since I do have a little money, I can say that yes, unemployment is better than working in a bad job. I'm working on marketing a book that my Grandfather wrote 40 years ago but never got published and learning a lot.

With the recent passing my 100+ -y-o stepmom, mortality has been more in mind than before; I've once again discussed some of it with family. With my daughter hitting the teens, she's having more thoughtful and involved conversations with me. This was one of them. What I covered was a reiteration that I DO NOT WANT MONEY SPENT FOOLISHLY ON MY FUNERAL/SENDOFF! I've said, my entire adult life, "If I could get away with it, I'd demand a couple Hefty bags and nothing else! Remember my LIFE, don't focus on my death!" Whatever's cheapest -- say your goodbyes, send my mortal clay on its way, and celebrate my life, preferably with a bike ride.

COD, just live -- everyone has a time, and yours will come when it comes. Hey -- maybe it takes all this family to clear your spot! And it may take a while!

Sorry to hear of all your woes. Life is truly precious and we should not take it for granted. I have been on vacation since I retired in 98 and am glad we had that time to RV many hundreds of thousands of miles visiting with the kids and grand kids across this great country. Not sure that we will be able to do that any more as my wife's health is not up to much travel now. I say you should do all you can while you can. Tomorrow is not promised. Good health is not promised either. Good luck in with your new vacation lifestyle.

Cranky, I can relate. I've had mortality on my mind a lot lately. That's all I want to say about that tonight. But I'm with you in spirit, COD. Be well.

This was one of them. What I covered was a reiteration that I DO NOT WANT MONEY SPENT FOOLISHLY ON MY FUNERAL/SENDOFF! I've said, my entire adult life, "If I could get away with it, I'd demand a couple Hefty bags and nothing else! Remember my LIFE, don't focus on my death!" Whatever's cheapest -- say your goodbyes, send my mortal clay on its way, and celebrate my life, preferably with a bike ride.

Yeah, embalming, coffins and tombstones are pretty bizarre actually, unless you need to preserve the body for a murder investigation. I'd rather my atoms get on to their next assignments as quickly as possible. I hate to be inactive.

Cranky, Sorry about the loss and pain for loved ones. It is important to seize the day, live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment with those you cherish.
Take the vacation, say the things that are important to those close to you, appreciate others and allow them to appreciate you.

Sorry to hear about what has happened. These things serve to remind us of our own mortality, sometimes with fear of the future. I hope that's not the case for you. I had an older brother killed in an oil field accident when I was 6. My parents took me to every funeral of family or friends from the time I was old enough to go. They wanted me to understand that we will all die, and that it is a part of life.

I'm pushing 60 and last year helped organize our class reunion. There were 142 in my graduating class. Last summer there were 117 still alive. Two more have since died.

From a group of 7 or us guys who were real, real close for years...two have died since we all turned 50 and one is in very, very poor health.

It's start of the fourth quarter, 2nd and 10, and we're up by 2 points deep in our own end zone. Don't be timid.

Our condolences on your family loses, I totally agree with the "time to take a vacation" ideals, we all need to get away, from the "stuff of life" and just enjoy being "alive", may you find only sunshine and tailwinds in your future outing! :)

Refresh the Bucket List!

Refresh the Bucket List!

+1:thumb:

COD, take that mini-vacation. Be glad you are at a point in life when you can take it. I'm sure glad I can take mine starting next Fri. Mother-in-law has been leaving for the last 3+ months and now that she is gone my wife and I can breath again. Gotta keep breathin!!! I nearly bought the farm four years ago and am very lucky/fortunate/blessed to still be alive, let alone able to ride. It makes all my rides a little more valuable these days. Seize the day while you still can.

These are great things to think about, guys. Soon we will be in the midst of SPRING. A whole new season of life renewed. And our chance to resolve once more to make the most of each day. Spread your love around and enjoy everything God has given us.

I plan to...

Death is inevitable.
We donated our bodies to science some 40-odd years ago.
So far we're ahead of the game at ages 78/76.
Enjoy life . . . it gets shorter as we age!

Oh my! I'm so sorry.

As I go to church and view our seniors group, it is filled with widows. I know very few widowers. The wife and I are planning a week's vacation after a year of back surgery, knee replacement, sinus surgery, cataract (2) replacement, mucho physical therapy - wow!!