Showtalk said:

You probably don’t have dozens of old school friend to keep up with. Facebook is like an ongoing holiday letter to friends.

I was so much of a socially awkward type that in school, most of the other kids were like NPC (non-playable characters) who I mostly had to tolerate, but early years of being bullied made me quite the loner. So I didn't really form very tight bonds. It was more like transient acquaintances. Although I remember many of them decades later, I have no clue where most of them are or what has happened with them, and haven't interacted with most for a very long time.

Occasionally I'll stumble on an obituary and recognize the name, and see "after a brief illness" or "after a long illness" and then "survived by ___, spouse of 40 years, four children and eleven grandchildren."

But in two cases, I ran across their names in the news when finding out they are incarcerated and will spend their final days there.

Jail? That is sad. Even social types don’t always keep up with high school people.  It’s not like most have much choice over friends at that age.  You mostly know whoever happens to be in your school, your age and in the same classes, or if they live down the block. It’s very random.

Quite random. But, what surprised me even in my mid 20s, were the number of obituaries that already were starting to appear. Now a lot of them have keeled over from heart attacks, and a few succumbed to cancer in their 30s and early 40s.

If any expired from Covid, I don't know yet. It's certainly possible.

Cancer is less expected in young adults. Usually accidents are a major reason.

Showtalk said:

Cancer is less expected in young adults. Usually accidents are a major reason.

Accidents were responsible for the first few fatalities in my graduating class. I found out years later that another was murdered, apparently in a love triangle that went bad. then there was the first cancer case at only 31. The first fatal heart attack I know of was at 39, the second at 42, and the third at 48, then a cluster of 3 more in the mid 50s.

And of course a steady drizzle of accidents, and a couple of others with debilitating degenerative diseases - complications from diabetes, one case of I think Lou Gehrig's Disease, and a couple that are "other".

It amounts now to about 36% of my graduating class are already dead.

But then I remember statistics from somewhere that you follow 100 people from age 20 to 65 and 37 of those never live to see the age of 65. Only about 10 are really self-sufficient, and only 1 could be considered "rich". And the remainder are either still working or are dependent on some kind of public assistance.

Neither of my parents made it to even 60. So I feel like I'm on unexplored ground now that more than half my life has been lived after they were gone.

It made me more risk averse in a lot of areas compared to most people who go out and take big risks and make lifestyle choices that will greatly shorten their lifespan and quality of life. Thus, I have avoided tobacco and alcohol, and numerous risky behaviors that others indulge in while calling me a "square" who doesn't know how to have fun.

Showtalk said...

Cancer is less expected in young adults. Usually accidents are a major reason.

Car/motorcycle accidents, drug overdoses, suicide and murder probably account for a good majority of younger adults.

FWIW

$1,661.87 in cats (ROCKETMAN_S) said...

It amounts now to about 36% of my graduating class are already dead.

But then I remember statistics from somewhere that you follow 100 people from age 20 to 65 and 37 of those never live to see the age of 65. Only about 10 are really self-sufficient, and only 1 could be considered "rich". And the remainder are either still working or are dependent on some kind of public assistance.

Neither of my parents made it to even 60. So I feel like I'm on unexplored ground now that more than half my life has been lived after they were gone.

Wow... those are some stats. May I ask what your age is? Because I know that as we get older... we tend to loose more people so if you're in your mid 70's or older... then 36% wouldn't seem so high. My father had his 70 year reunion and 12 people showed up but I don't know the size of his graduating class.

I'm 63 now and we had a graduating class of 1200... and at our 40 year reunion (2016), they mentioned 124 people had died and that they were still unable to contact another 80 people. So even if the 80 we have been unable to contact were to be included in the dead... that would still be only 17% of my graduating class. If they were not included, it would be only 10%!

My mother passed away at 83 and my father is still alive at 92... and his mother lived until 97!

FWIW

That number seems high but could be common.

I wonder if there are regional health risks. Some areas have higher than average focus on health and fitness than others.

Environment may have something to do with it.

Higher crime rates in inner cities vs rural areas might have something to do with it as well.

FWIW