My new deliberate and slower pace has created a higher quality in my experiences.

Losing the buffer zone of my parents meant I was next. I had a chance to craft a lighter finale for my future senior years. I didn’t want the final chapters of my life to be about stuff, and I didn’t want to abandon the responsibility of dealing with it myself.

Lightening my load of stuff and responsibilities freed me to look forward to planning and creating a living situation that was sustainable and lessened potential stress in caring for a home and its contents as I aged.

It behooves me to remember as I advance in age that death is an inevitable part of the life cycle rather than a medical failure.

I now urge friends and acquaintances to have conversations with their aging parents and within their families while their parents are still relatively healthy and of sound mind.