The Absent Uncle: When heroes die

As you get older you look at the obituaries a bit differently. Those younger than you; well, they may have succumbed to a disease, a cancer, or some other very sad malady or an accident. Those older, well, they provide the path forward. If we knew them, check out the lifestyle; if not, just take some amount of inspiration from the achievement.   

But then there are our heroes. Be it sports, politics, a person from the entertainment genre, or a wonderful community person that we admired. Personal heroes come in all shapes and sizes and are definitely individually special to each of us.

Those people really awake our awareness of our mortality when they suddenly and unexpectantly pass. Especially as I/you/we get older.

We think maybe they had all the advantages of medical science, living conditions, and everything else we just never had access to. And they passed. Ahead of us. What chance do we have?

Oh sure. The famous ones, they probably drank too much, dabbled in drugs, and lived the fast life. Yes, that is the answer. We don’t do those things; our heroes or probably bettered labeled as “admired” just didn’t recognize the limits of human existence – like we do. Right.

I am trying to learn and internalize a different lesson from those admired passing before my eyes. Love every day you wake up, do your best to take care of yourself, and more than that – embrace your life. It’s yours and only yours to share, to celebrate, and enjoy.