You Know You Are Old When

[RobertEH]

We have 2 funeral homes.
Every morning before I get out of bed I check their web site on my phone.

If I don't see my name I figure it's going to be a good day and get up.

Per Willie, I woke up still not dead again today.

 

[Sigarms]

Growing up, I was friends and classmates with four girls from two families, who's parents both got divorced, and then later separately each married each other. In other words, father 1 and mother 1 divorced, and then later married mother 2 and father 2. Then each new couple had more kids.

Both sets of my grandparents (mom and dads parents) came off the boat in the early 1900's and worked the coal mines in Pa.

On my mom's side, my mom was the last of 5 kids when her father was killed working in the mines. After my grandmothers first husband died, she married another man who's wife died at age 33 due to a tooth extraction (infection, took some time). That man had 5 children of his own when he married my grandmother.

Instant family of 10, then they had my uncle as a son, family of 11.

Both sets of my grandfathers on my moms side died before the age of 50 before the year 1950 working in the mines (no OSHA back then).

Both my grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side died before 1955 (my dad's father died in the mines as well). He was one of about 10. My dad died in 2022 and he was the last of all of his siblings left alive at the time.

Different times...

Now a days, all bets are off how families "come together" LOL

What I can tell you is that raising 2 boys of my own in the last 20 years makes me wonder how in the heck you can raise a large family. That said, my dad being the runt, was picked to lite the fuse in the illegal family coal mine so they could have coal to heat their home. 14 year old girls were also cooks and dressed and took care of their younger siblings because parents didn't have time to.

As mentioned, different times...

I try to never forget what my grandparents went through even though I didn't know most of them (only grandparent I knew was my mom's mom). Family didn't have a pot to pee in and my parents made something of themselves. We take to much for granted now a days IMO.

 

[WinterDeere]

Different times...

My great grandfather's brother married my great grandmother's sister. Two brothers, two sisters... probably happened quite often when there were fewer families to mix.

All four of them are buried side by side, now. Some families just stay together.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

 

[Alan46]

When you look at your hands, and say to yourself...

these are old man's hands.

Does this mean I’m old!

 

[BackRoad]

Hmmmm....maybe

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I'm just 11...in dog years.

 

[Alan46]

Me too +1

 

[ultrarunner]

$90 a year for a daily subscription or is that monthly??

Side note, not certain if this is only online or actually in the paper.
View attachment 3172094

If in the paper, it's a pretty good price IMO.

You know you're getting old when you're comparing the obituary rates

I think local in my area is was starting off around $5 a word...

Just checked and old price still honored…

$80.25 monthly for home delivery in print… it’s suppose to include gratis online but the very rare occasions I access online I always have to reregister…

Paper is smaller format and less pages as time marches on but still prints investigative news…

 

[ultrarunner]

One of my better friends was hiking this past Saturday with some other guys. Had a couple EMT's in the group hiking. Remote area.

Guy with them collapsed. My friend was talking to him when he was on the ground. Guy passed out and they started working on him with CPR and apparently were in the worst area they could be from the trail head with cell phones. Guy passed away there on the ground. Guy was 48 years old and per my friend, in pretty good shape, wife and family.

Reality is none of us is promised tomorrow. I remember when I was in my early 20's living life like I knew I wouldn't live past 30. Those days have changed.

Maybe onset old is yearning for a simpler life?