Yep. My mom’s dad passed in 78. He was like 6’6”, retired, smoked and drank a lot, but was never mean. He would take me with him to the horse and dog tracks, give me a buck or two for “kid bets” and lunch in the kid park and then go off to the adult section for hours.

My mom’s mom (was divorced from her dad) had thirteen brothers and get mom lived till I was eight. My grandmother retired when I was four. She was old my whole life. She passed away in 89. She taught me a lot and learned me more.

My dad’s dad was always crotchety, physically small but holy cow freaking strong. He must have smoke three or more packs of unfiltered cigs a day. He passed in 87 from what became known as Alzheimer’s. It was hard for me to witness.

Other older relatives passed every year from the time I was born till 95.

Dad passed in 2011 from C-Diff and not believing it. Had cancer multiple times but was in full remission. Him and mom divorced in 1991. Her doing and something she regretted the rest of her life.

Mom passed in 2022, just went to sleep and never woke.

My wife and my 31 year old daughter passed in Aug 2025 after 18 years of major medical issues. She had many medical journals written about her. She was decided she was done with the suffering and ready for peace. We made sure she was home and comfortable till the end.

My oldest brother just passed last month. He had fought some rare cancer, but it just took too much out of him. And he had a heart attack getting up from his wheelchair to get into his wife’s car to head to a doc appt.

So many times I stop to reach for a phone or to say “hey” and realize they’re gone. So I talk anyway.