So, Earl died today, which was kind of a surprise, as I figured he'd gone a while back, not long after he packed up the car and headed back home to fight the last round. I hadn't heard anything, but I figured it was done. Shows you what you know.
I suppose it's best it was today, because it isn't officially the same week that Peter dropped dead for no apparent reason. Opposite situation from Earl, who everybody knew was outward bound for a long time. Peter was classic out-of-nowhere.
I'm not a young man, but I'm not thatold yet. Still, they've been dropping like the proverbial flies of late, so mortality is much on my mind.
Grace is still lingering, though it won't be much longer. I'm torn between hope she makes it to 93 and hope the hard part ends before too long.
Sam's the funniest. Diagnosed stage 4 now I think it must've been over two years back and he's still playing and putting out records. Pulled a great show last night. But the flight track's generally down. He was amused that he outlived his dog. Then shocked that he outlived his dad, for whom he had to write a memorial last month.
I'll get back to that in a second. (If I make it; this week's gotten me paranoid).
It's all pretty weird, but not as sad as it seems it should be. I've been watching this stuff since I stared down at my own dad as a kid, so maybe I'm inured or resigned or whatever. Perhaps it's simply a knowledge acquired early and refreshed often that this is what we do. This is the way of organs and cells and time and luck. This is the final payment due for getting a ticket here to begin with.
I miss 'em and I mourn 'em. But there's no point in getting mad. The program is as advertised.
Anyway, Sam's piece for his father was funny and tear-jerking and funny again, like Sam is and Sam, Sr. was. But the part that stuck with me was his relating Sam, Sr.'s view of things here, which makes more and more sense:
"All this is like a Monopoly game. They give you a bunch of fake money and you build houses or hotels or railroads and when it's over you put it all back in the box."
Makes sense.
Play nice, okay. It's just a game.