Living in the Midwest, we get to fully experience the four distinct seasons. We had a wonderful fall this year, with pleasant temperatures well into mid-November; but we were still surprised to return from a short trip recently to find our yard buried in leaves. When we left just a few days earlier the leaves had not yet begun to fall. (So THAT’S why they call it fall!)
A few weeks later as I sat drinking coffee in the quiet looking out our window early one morning, I was taken by the large number of leaves gently drifting down from the maple tree to the ground in our front yard. It was very peaceful. Now, this is a serious article, but I must admit that one of the thoughts that came into my mind at that time was Jim Gaffigan’s hilarious comedy bit on fall leaves.
Getting serious….as I watched the leaves falling from the branches, I thought of our lives, and that one day they too will come to an end. We may be aware of the average life expectancies for men and women, but we never know when our own lives will end, only God knows that. For example, my dad lived to nearly 85 years old, while my mom died at age 60. Recently, it surprised me, when meeting with our financial advisor, to see my “death date” in his projections. And, while the projected date was a few years longer than my dad lived to, it was actually much longer than the current average life expectancy for a man in the U.S. (73 years). Obviously, a number of factors will go into any consideration of life expectancy. Continue reading →