I am officially an old person. I have adopted the old person characteristic of consulting the newspaper's obituaries. It helps if I know someone is dead and don't try to speak or write to them. I have reached a stage where some friends are already desisted. Who is and who isn't changes often and erratically.
One of my best and closest friends was Bob. As far as I am concerned, he had no business dying. He was a sweet and fun guy. He was a school principal and a good one. Before she was my wife, the woman wanted to be chosen to represent our freshman college class but Bob argued to appoint me. He actually did me something of a favor since she was impressed that anybody liked me enough to argue for me to be chosen and I wasn't even in the meeting.
Another close friend was Bruce. He was a Methodist minister. He was a learned guy and once gave our wives the task of acting out a long complicated title of a book in a game of Charades. It was something like "The Ecclesiastical History of the Early Middle Ages in the West." They didn't get it in the time allowed. They were irritated enough that he and I were walking the neighborhood at 2 AM, giving them time to cool off.
Lynn recently made a list of friends who have died and all those listed were men. Google says:
Why do females live longer than men?
Biological differences also help to explain women's higher longevity. Scientists believe that estrogen in women combats conditions such as heart disease by helping reduce circulatory levels of harmful cholesterol. Women are also thought to have stronger immune systems than men
