Pluggers by Rick McKee for May 16, 2022

“Way too young” like my mother who was 51 (2004), her brother-in-law who was 38 (1975), her nephew-in-law who was 37 (2009), and her grandniece who was 27 (2021)?

When my Dad was elderly he would call his friends and ask, " Are you still alive?" He meant it in a jovial sense. As an immigrant to the USA and a businessman he sponsored a few immigrants from the “old country”. Years later, as these guys passed on, I recall my Dad receiving small inheritances from many of them.

If you ask me, a Plugger would never read the obits. It would be too depressing because the Plugger would be just as old or nearly as old as the deceased. :/

The immortal words of George Burns come to mind:“I get up every morning and read the obituary column. If my name’s not there, I eat breakfast.”

I always paraphrase and say, I get out of bed.

I do non-emergency transportation so I always read to see if I know anyone. sigh

Sorry to hear all of this. I didn’t realize how lucky my family has been. Many people are living into their 90s these days compared to a few decades ago.

i just look for me…….

You mean there are still newspapers?

Survey question: Do you plan on going to concerts this summer? A: They’re all dead.

My wife does that, too. Me? I’m so out of it that I don’t recognize the names of the departed when their obits are on the front page.

We read the obits to make sure we DON’T know anybody. Was burying friends’ parents… now that I ’m a little older, burying my friends.

Well, due to stupidity, there are many who refused to get vaccinated.

I do check the ages on the obit highlights. Sobering as the percentage younger than me rises…

I think the same about a lot of the celebrities mentioned on the news. I think about my age, and even though I am in reasonably good health, can go at any time.

Age does not matter to the reaper so make every day count !

I always read them too. I checked everyone’s age. I made a mental average and scored how bad a day was.

One of my first friends – 7 years old.

I once learned of the death of someone I knew from a scroll at the bottom of a national news show. He was way too young.

Whew….

I have learned of the deaths of a number of friends and acquaintances through the obituaries. The families don’t always think about or have the time or energy to call every friend the deceased knew. Knowing from an obituary that someone has passed can also save some grief for the family. I was just getting ready to call a close friend I hadn’t talk to in a couple of weeks when I saw her obituary! I would have felt awful if I had called her number and her husband had to break the news. He was devastated as it was.

Please forgive me if I’ve already told this story, but it’s a bit of bizarre humor in a sad situation. Late ex-hubby (but still good friend) was in the ICU, in a coma and only being kept alive by machines so that his sister could come from a distant town to see him alive one more time. He got a call on the cell phone from a doctor’s office to confirm an appointment he had for a couple of days from then. I explained that he was in the ICU and would not be alive by the next day and wouldn’t be coming to his appointment. The receptionist cheerily asked, “Would he like to reschedule?” I rephrased whatever I had first said (which apparently was unintentionally too vague!) to clarify his situation. But after I hung up, I just had to laugh a little bit. I don’t know if she was a new employee, or if it was just a habit. The saddest part for me was that I couldn’t share the funny moment with him.

“If my name’s not there, I have breakfast.”—George Burns.