Life is short

This is unlikely to make a lot of sense because I just have to empty my head.

So, my grandfather died a few days ago and I just went to the funeral. I wasn't particularly close to him - I don't think anyone was, really - but I was really close to my grandmother. He'd had Alzheimer's for years so he hadn't been the same person I grew up with for the better part of a decade. My grandmother died three years ago give or take a couple of weeks. Losing him too just feels like the end of an era.

They were the epitome of "the greatest generation." They survived the depression, they both served in World War II (My grandmother was in the WACS, my grandfather in the army air corps). They were a devout Irish Catholic family, and they raised six kids. They had two more children that died while infants. They owned their own business and ran it for decades. When they retired, they went on cruises around the world. They were extra attentive to their grandchildren. They were the anchors of our family. We used to all live within 10 miles of them; now we're scattered across 5 states.

The people in my generation are complete and utter pussies compared to our grandparents. We've never had to go through what they went through. We've been handed a middle-class life on a platter; we didn't have to scrape and save and work our asses off for it. I can't even imagine working 6 days a week and raising 6 kids and having any kind of life left over. I can't imagine being the one everyone relied on, for advice, for a hug, for help fixing your car, for organizing family gatherings.

I was just struck by how short life is. We're here for a blink of an eye and then we're gone. What the hell are we doing watching TV and surfing the net and playing videogames?

To be continued...