the first one


Recent official reports say the mortality rate among infected seniors is 15%. That's something like one out of every six, (right number crunchers??).
So this 87-year-old is looking eternity in the eye, but having been somewhat, sometimes, occasionally a responsible person, I've opened up a spreadsheet in Google Drive and started a list of things that must be done immediately and urgently upon my . . . uhm . . . ya know . . . uhm . . . passing.
That's a nicer word than that (shudder) other word, isn't it? I mean, "passing" is so neutral and non-specific. It's like I'm exiting an SRO #10 bus at Duncan Ave after it became packed to the doors at JSQ. "Excuse me, please, Getting off. Excuse me please, May I pass?"
Maybe I should drop the "getting off" out of respect for that it may imply something else entirely.
Where was I? Oh, the list. I'll get to it in a moment but, to whom might I trust it? (BTW - did you notice the fancy grammar there? I want to be remembered for that.) None of my kids lives closer than a plane ride away and considering all the flight cancellations, I might be a bit ripe by the time they get here, I mean summer's comin', " . . . and we're runnin' outa ice."
One of my neighbors down the hall or upstairs? Hmmm - not. Most are very sweet and caring ladies of a certain age or more, who know a lot about the cast of Good Morning America and The View. They are a great resource for a cup of rice or a bandaid.
However, I hate it when someone knocks on my door during my nap, which I take any damn time I want, so I'm not going to bother them during theirs.
Yes, yes, yes - I'll get to the damned list. What's your hurry? Afraid you're gonna be late for your fune . . . let's not go there.
The list. It should be in the right order, shouldn't it? It should list the most important things first. It should . . .
Wait. All my life (and may I live a very very very long time) I have avoided, resented and resisted being told "You should."
I've have learned that some people are full of should.
I have to admit, I've started the list, but I’m stuck. I don't know what comes after the first, the most important, the most urgent item that I want someone to do upon learning of my . . . passing.
1) clear my computer's browsing history.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bring Out Your Dead

The working title of this piece began with the word “Throw” but when I mentioned   that to a friend, a Jesuit priest at the nearby university, he suggested it was “a bit too cold-hearted, inhumane 21 st Century.” Recognizing I may soon be in need of his services, I reverted to the historic version of the phrase. In 1347, almost 700 years ago, in Italy, where the toll is now climbing despite much of the country being on lockdown, a plague called The Black Death arrived with travelers from Asia. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?   Entire towns were wiped out. People who fled to the countryside did not know that livestock was also infected and contagious. Universities were abandoned. Learning and civilization shut down. Firm statistics are impossible to confirm, but some estimates say one-third to one-half of Europe’s population perished over the course of 3 to 5 years before the plague burned itself out. It may have killed more than 20 million Europeans and an estimated ...
Read more