I received a call today relating the death of a high school classmate and the cancer diagnosis of another. We only recently celebrated our fiftieth class reunion and this is the year most of us turn the big seven O. I just had an annual checkup and a Cortisone needle in my one original knee yesterday. My doctor has me on a regimen to drive my bad Cholesterol below 100. We had gotten it down to exactly 100 and he was excited to announce that we were making great progress in assuring me a great life. I couldn’t hold back a reply that I’ve already had a great life. So, I left the office and ordered a 5 Guys burger for lunch to celebrate my LDL victory!
While I was thoroughly enjoying my greasy hamburger and fries, I thought once again about the baseball analogy that I came up with when I was actually a pretty young boy. I suppose it was a time of loss of innocence when my grandfather suddenly died of a heart attack right after a wonderful Sunday luncheon with all our family. My father was a Cracker Jack baseball player and had me playing the sport as soon as I could hold a bat. And since that time, I've always characterized the three innings of life from those early years as a little league baseball batter:
The First Inning represents growing up "In the Hole"
and our grandparents are dying.
The Second Inning represents middle age "On Deck"
and our parents are dying.
The Third Inning represents our senior years "At Bat"
and guess who's dying?
Then you get three strikes if you're lucky
and you're out of the game.
Our high school class mates are all "at the plate” now
and some already have more strikes than others.
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