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- Jul 27, 2010
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- 30,543
I remember in my 20's I would probably stop reading this post right after the old guy writing it started talking about the good old days. It's one of those truths that is unpopular with those in the prime of their lives because it's not happening to them, they think. I remember when I was in my thirties, my Dad responded to my comment that "why do they ascribe a cause of death when someone old dies? Their body wore out and that's really why they died...not a heart attack or cancer or...you pick the cause." My Dad grew serious suddenly and said, "You'll regret those comments later in life."
Well, I wasn't wrong back then exactly, but he wasn't wrong either. I watch YouTube a lot and you know the AI pegs me for my age and interests. Strange history, videos of the the long ago Edwardians. Strange habits of death family photo portraits (the living posing with a a recently dead child, parent, etc...). The AI knows my approximate age and "In Memorium 2020 (different years)" shows up in my recommendeds. Different famous people who died during the year who you had forgotten about. It doesn't always have to be the old and sick, but also suicides and accidental deaths. Often the pictures are of them when you last saw their image in healthier days. For many, my first thought was "they were not that old!" Then you start doing the math and realize that most of them were at least a decade older than you and you're closing in on 60.
I remember joking about the Rolling Stones for the "Tattoo You" tour in 1981, being so old that they must use walkers to get on stage. I think Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are still alive (wtf!). But then Eddie Van Halen dies and all you remember is the young guy shredding a guitar solo in "Hot for Teacher," in the 80's. Or that the members of ZZ Top looked old and cool in the 80's....what about now? Tanya Roberts died this year and I hadn't thought about her in years and she died in her 60's. It's sad when you see a person who died and think, *whelp, I beat them in the age count. lol.
Of course it makes you consider your own mortality as well as those you love. I'm a geneologist and no @Merlin this has nothing to do with old rocks! When I started, I couldn't tell you who my paternal greatgrandfather was and my Dad didn't even know who he was when I asked him. Dad did give me this but he had no idea whose it was....
I discovered after getting my grandfather's birth certificate that his father died before he was born. I've been reasearching my family tree for 20 years and I learned that Great Gramps died of spinal meningitus and never knew that he would have a son. I have since learned so much about him and so many others, but all was lost from family memory. When the people who knew the dead, die, they were lost forever and that was always so sad for me to think about. Like an old graveyard is sad when you know that no one comes to their headstones anymore, because everyone is gone that knew them. Or when you look for a headstone and can't find it because part of the cemetery is overgrown with brush and trees and you can see aged limestone, half covered in dirt in the midst of the brush. When I discover long lost names of family, it's like finding a treasure nugget. Finding a picture is even better! All of my research is now digitized and stored on Ancestry.com. Old geneologists used to have boxes of documents and pictures gathered for years. When they died, family members shrugged their shoulders and often tossed it and all was lost because it meant nothing to them.
I never mentioned that the card above was my great grandfather's. Through old newspaper stories, I learned that he was a gifted singer and pianist and briefly had his own orchestra. He thought he would live forever, I suppose, and had this business card made.
For the few of you still reading,( ya bunch of old codgers) remember to take a moment and just be. Practice living in the moment and raise a glass to Dave51 and ThorDaddy this weekend, In Memorium.
Well, I wasn't wrong back then exactly, but he wasn't wrong either. I watch YouTube a lot and you know the AI pegs me for my age and interests. Strange history, videos of the the long ago Edwardians. Strange habits of death family photo portraits (the living posing with a a recently dead child, parent, etc...). The AI knows my approximate age and "In Memorium 2020 (different years)" shows up in my recommendeds. Different famous people who died during the year who you had forgotten about. It doesn't always have to be the old and sick, but also suicides and accidental deaths. Often the pictures are of them when you last saw their image in healthier days. For many, my first thought was "they were not that old!" Then you start doing the math and realize that most of them were at least a decade older than you and you're closing in on 60.
I remember joking about the Rolling Stones for the "Tattoo You" tour in 1981, being so old that they must use walkers to get on stage. I think Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are still alive (wtf!). But then Eddie Van Halen dies and all you remember is the young guy shredding a guitar solo in "Hot for Teacher," in the 80's. Or that the members of ZZ Top looked old and cool in the 80's....what about now? Tanya Roberts died this year and I hadn't thought about her in years and she died in her 60's. It's sad when you see a person who died and think, *whelp, I beat them in the age count. lol.
Of course it makes you consider your own mortality as well as those you love. I'm a geneologist and no @Merlin this has nothing to do with old rocks! When I started, I couldn't tell you who my paternal greatgrandfather was and my Dad didn't even know who he was when I asked him. Dad did give me this but he had no idea whose it was....
I discovered after getting my grandfather's birth certificate that his father died before he was born. I've been reasearching my family tree for 20 years and I learned that Great Gramps died of spinal meningitus and never knew that he would have a son. I have since learned so much about him and so many others, but all was lost from family memory. When the people who knew the dead, die, they were lost forever and that was always so sad for me to think about. Like an old graveyard is sad when you know that no one comes to their headstones anymore, because everyone is gone that knew them. Or when you look for a headstone and can't find it because part of the cemetery is overgrown with brush and trees and you can see aged limestone, half covered in dirt in the midst of the brush. When I discover long lost names of family, it's like finding a treasure nugget. Finding a picture is even better! All of my research is now digitized and stored on Ancestry.com. Old geneologists used to have boxes of documents and pictures gathered for years. When they died, family members shrugged their shoulders and often tossed it and all was lost because it meant nothing to them.
I never mentioned that the card above was my great grandfather's. Through old newspaper stories, I learned that he was a gifted singer and pianist and briefly had his own orchestra. He thought he would live forever, I suppose, and had this business card made.
For the few of you still reading,( ya bunch of old codgers) remember to take a moment and just be. Practice living in the moment and raise a glass to Dave51 and ThorDaddy this weekend, In Memorium.
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