I recently said to a friend,”We’ve entered that stage of life where the people we love start graduating from life and I’m not ready for it.” And honestly, I find tragedy easier to handle than the inevitable. Because we all die. Every single one of us. The tragedies- the car accidents and overdoses and terminal cancer before age 30- are easy to rationalize as random or fate. But I’m not ready to say goodbye to my parents or yours. You know? The people who die mostly because of lifestyle and being old.

And, to be fair to these boomers marching toward the stage, they’ve lived full lives. Kids, grandkids, pets and more pets. They’ve loved the poor and preached the Gospel. And I’m proud of them. Truly. I’m just not ready to say goodbye.