“I remember when my mother died, some years back, I went to a local park and spent several hours there.  I sat on a bench and just looked around at world… and was struck by the fact that this HUGE event had just happened: My Mother Died. The only living direct relative of mine had passed away, and I was essentially alone in the world. I have no brothers and sisters, you see, and my parents are both dead. Although I am basically “dad” to three wonderful (now adult) children, they are not mine in the biological sense… they are ultimately my wife’s, through her previous marriage.

Everyone Around You Will be DEAD in 100 Years

Near Snoqualmie Pass, WA

I don’t mean for this to sound like a downer post, but if you look around you where you are right now, odds are that every single person can seefrom wherever you are will be dead, 100 years from now. 

Anyway, I sat in that park and watched the world go about its business, and I realized that in spite of the fact that a monumental even was happening to ME, nobody elseknew or cared.

Thinking forward to today, that also made me realize that when I die, pretty much nobody will notice. When I die, the last person with a clear memory of my mother will be gone. Will anyone have a clear memory of me, after I die? After a year? Five years? Ten years?

Then again, does it matter?

Some people are more attached than others to leaving a “legacy” behind for others to remember them by. Me? Not so much. Although it does amuse me — at least on some minimal level — that these words we write here will supposedly be recorded on the blockchain forever.

“Forever” is a long time, mind you.

I don’t know what people will remember. But then again, I never put much effort into doing anything worth “being remembered FOR.” 

What Matters… and What Doesn’t

The great thing about us humans is that we are really vastly different. 

Bird taking a rest… on a bird

There’s a lot of jargon circulating about how we are “all the same,” but really? Such a range of differentthings matter to us. Including… death.

I don’t think much about death; it’ll come soon enough, and I’m quite content with the idea of “whatever happens” coming as a surprise. And maybe that’s why I’m really more concerned with what happens while I am here than after I am gone. 

That was one of the things my mother and I did not share: She pretty much started “planning her death” when she was in her 50’s and then got to spend another 30 years “putting her papers in order.“

It’s funny, after 8 1/2 years, it’s getting harder and harder to remember her. That’s what the human mind does, over time. The daily stuff fades, and only a few highlights remain…”