Don: “What role does fear play in your thoughts about dying?” Ben: “I’d like to say not at all, but I don’t want to lie, particularly being so close to the end. I don’t think it’s the actual dying that scares me – it’s the fear of the unknown. Give me a video …
So I’m sitting on one of those red swivel counter seats at this breakfast spot in Carson City. No one has chosen to sit next to me. I can’t blame them. I’m going around and around and around at breakneck speed, or so it appears to me. I might be confused for an aging Peggy …
Hey, boys and girls in our 70s and 80s, I know who the real Lone Ranger was! Gather around and let me tell you the story of Bass Reeves. Bass was born to slave parents in 1838 in Crawford County, Arkansas. Before he died in 1910, Bass had brought over 3,000 outlaws to …
This week, Ben talked with me about what he thinks is “next.” You will notice he’s a creative thinker and his Catholic upbringing provides some parameters for his heavenly wanderings. Don’t let his humor lead you to overlook his thoughtful musings. I know Ben well. This is …
I make an effort to spend time with super smart people. One of them, of the academic variety, encouraged me to look up the work of Erik Erikson because he created a model for aging and coined the phrase ”identity crisis.” Wow, can you imagine that! I focused on the …
Above: Ben retrofitted his walker with a shelf so he can better carry things around the house. I was curious about the process Ben and Ann went through in making their choice of refusing additional medical support to prolong life and to stay at home during Ben’s final days. …
Good friends make fun of me when they discover I enjoy singing along to country and western songs. I take the insults with great pride and belt out, “I’m a member of a country club. Country music is what I love.” That generally gets the bad guys on their way. These are the …
Here is a special opportunity for us, thanks to Ben. I’ve known Ben for over 50 years, his wife Ann for even longer. I love them both. Ben is in his final stages of chronic kidney disease: incurable, final, close to death. Ben and Ann have agreed to share his last few …
I can’t help it. I fell in love with the letter Mark Twain’s brother wrote back in Muscatine, Iowa, on November 21, 1854. It might give a precious few of you a tip on how to proceed with your romantic endeavors. For the rest of us, it will remind us of a time long, long …
Joey died on December 8, a cool Tuesday in 2020. I just found out today. He lived in a small town in central Iowa. It’s been over 20 years since I chatted with Joey at a little cafe on the edge of his town off Highway 30. I remember laughing until tears came to our …
