Introducing....

      This A/Z Challenge has been entertaining and informative.  I have enjoyed my familiar  blogger family and have been introduced to some wonderful new writers.  The bloggers in my world tend to be caring, compassionate, smart people.  They often make me laugh but they also often give me something to think about.  One new blogger I have encountered is The Death Writer.  I know, I know, you are going to wonder what the attraction is there.  In fact,  Pamela is an avid writer who, in her own words, writes about death because it is "scary and inevitable".  She has written a book about death but her blog is also full of lively information.  She is a witty storyteller and she can write like there's no tomorrow (go to this post  for a great example).
      When I was younger (like 20 or 30 years ago), I doubt that I thought of death much.  I was too busy planning for my future.  What would I do when I finished college?  Should I marry this dude or not?  Should we have kids yet?  How many?  How are we going to pay for them?  Where is the best place to raise them?  And then there were years of child related issues followed by dealing with their college years.  That is all behind me now.  Although I  am still interested in living, I am keenly aware that, no matter what the measure, I am surely far closer to death than I am to birth.  I don't contemplate what comes next.  What I do consider is whether I am using my time well.  I never really thought about that much before.  I marched forward, as I think many people do, taking the cards I was dealt and playing them as well as I could.  Not so many cards left to play now. Consequently,  I find myself wondering how I will live out my remaining years.  It's a natural progression, I suppose.  As time becomes even more precious, I am unwilling to squander it.  Not sure if I am or not.  Not sure how to figure that one out.
     In the meantime, though, I have become a follower of The Death Writer.  I have also secured a copy of Jessica Mitford's book The American Way of Death (revised) which I read years ago for a college class.  Now I will read it with new eyes.