... and the band played on.
I had just published my first post on this blog when I did what so many of us do without thinking I opened Facebook. And almost immediately, I was reminded that another familiar face from my past was gone.
These losses have been hitting me especially hard lately. The people passing away now are the actors, musicians, and personalities who were part of my childhood and early adulthood. They were there during the years when life still felt open, when time felt endless. Now, one by one, they’re disappearing and it stings.
I’m turning 62 soon, and lately it feels like I’m surrounded by loss. Not in a dramatic way just a deep, quiet kind of heaviness that settles in and doesn’t rush out the door.
I understand, intellectually, that death is part of life. There’s no escaping it, no negotiating around it. We can eat better, live healthier, do all the “right” things but none of it comes with a guarantee. I know that all too well.
Both of my parents are already on the other side. They passed far too young, between the ages of 51 and 68. And here I am now, standing uncomfortably close to the space between those numbers.
Social media doesn’t help. It keeps us in the loop constantly sometimes relentlessly. It feels like there’s news every day about another public figure passing away. These aren’t distant historical names anymore; they’re people whose voices, faces, and performances are woven into my memory.
Characters we laughed with. Actors we grew up watching. Music that once played in the background of our lives now tied to loss.
And when you reach a certain age, you start hearing that familiar phrase: “You have more years behind you than in front of you. ” Whether that’s true or not, it has a way of settling into your bones especially when your health isn’t great and you’re reminded daily that mortality isn’t some abstract idea anymore. It’s closer. Quieter. Waiting just down the hall.
I know I’ll have to accept the inevitable. We all do. The only real hope is that when it finally knocks, it won’t be too soon.
Until then, life keeps moving. The days keep coming. The music doesn’t stop.
And as the saying goes…
…and the band played on.
