Editor: Although most of us realize that death awaits us, it is very difficult indeed to picture this terminal event. There are some times in your life, however, when the shadow of death falls upon you and you realize it may extinguish your light. Going into battle, for instance, where the moan of death is increasingly loud and personal.
As you age, the reminder of your mortality is driven home. Your parents pass away and friends begin losing fights with lethal diseases. Organizations to which you belong send out messages that say ‘we regret to inform you that’…In my organizations it is referred to as The Last Post or Jumper Down.
For a number of years I called Calgary home. I served in the army there and in the newspaper industry. We moved to Langley in 1971 and if I went back to Calgary, I wouldn’t know a soul, as all my pals are dead. As a matter of fact I would not know the city either, as all the buildings I was familiar are torn down and replaced — even Currie Barracks and the Calgary Herald building.
Aching bones and muscles begin to announce the fact that your faithful old body can’t perform the things it once enjoyed. Disruptions in body functions become the norm and such pleasures as walking your dog become a chore. Then the memory starts to fade — you know that face but cannot think of the name. With a rush of insight it is apparent that you will soon join those in the obituary column you faithfully peruse each day.
Mike Harvey,
Langle
