Friday, 7 June 2013

How Long Have I Got?

When I'm thinking of friends and days that are gone I cant help wondering how long I'm going to live.  Nearly all of those whom I grew up with are long gone and some of them were stronger and more athletic than I was.  As long as I have my wonderful wife, our three boys, their wives and our eight grandchildren and a hundred close friends I don't want to leave this wonderful world.  It has been good to me.  I have seen a fair bit of it and one of my few regrets is that I did not see more of it's wonderful people and it's sights. 

Last week I told you of a Vet friend I congratulated on reaching a century.  Mentally and physically he was a greater man than I ever was so I can't expect to live so long.  While I feel as well as I am I would like to carry on for a while.  I started losing my mates when I reached forty.  Every ten or twelve years I lost a few more friends than I gained.  When I entered my seventies my losses gradually increased.  During my eighties the numbers of losses often made me worry about death.  During the last two years I have stopped worrying.  Looking at the death notices now and again when idle I noticed that not many people above ninety seemed to be dying!  I had a look at the papers again last week and I couldn't see the name of a single fellow dying at ninety two!  That made me happy !  I went out to the pub with my mate David and had an extra pint on having safely passed through those dangerous ages.  When I got into bed I started worrying about all my mates of seventy and eighty now at risk.  I fell asleep thinking of ringing up William Hill in the morning to see what odds I could get on myself hanging on to be 93.

No comments:

Post a Comment