For November’s wallpaper/calendar I am taking the opportunity to remember & honor my daughter, Kimberly Sue, who died suddenly about 8 weeks ago. Shortly afterward, this phrase crossed my path – and it spoke straight into my heart. Kim was only 48 years old; her 49th birthday would have been this upcoming week. Married, but no kids.

Even sadder, she died alone; no one to call on for help or to hold her hand and comfort her. And because nearly 30 years ago, my husband, too, had died alone (although in his case, in mandatory “isolation” in a hospital), noting these similarities has probably been the worst part for me to bear.  While I am grateful to have been there to hold both my Mom and my Dad’s hands as they passed in recent years (at ages 88 and 91, respectively), I couldn’t do the same for either my husband or my daughter… neither of whom had the chance to live to see “old age”.

So as we moan about the gray in our hair, the aches in our joints, and the flab that hangs in places we’d rather it didn’t, let’s remember that those elements of “growing old” mean we have had the privilege of living for many years. Not everyone gets that chance.