I was with my wife the other day and we were driving through town when we passed an older gentleman atop a boss, old-school bicycle that was probably constructed in the 1940s. The man looked fit and happy and I would suspect his age to be around eighty. So I asked my wife the first thing that popped into my mind.
"Hey. Do you think when that old guy dies, he'll let me have his bike?"
She chastised me (rightfully so) for my callous inquiry, but the realization of what I had said dawned on me. There are no rules when it comes to who dies first. We would all like to think that our lives will be long ones, but there are no guarantees. I could stick a fork in the toaster tomorrow and be, well..... toast.
You just never know.
This train of thought made me laugh as I imagined dying unexpectedly of appliance electrocution and the older bicyclist then gets his jollies by riding over my grave with his super-cool bike.
I pictured him cackling under his manicured mustache and ringing the handlebar bell as he left tire tread in the fresh dirt of my final resting place. I also imagined he would say something like:
"What do you think of that, playa'?"
It sure was a nice bike, though.
A good thought provoking post. Fate does has an interesting way of doing the unexpected. Bill (my life partner) is 82 years old. I'm 69. He is assuming that he will GO FIRST. I have advised him on more than one occasion, "don't count on it." Life often throws a curve ball. Be prepared.
ReplyDeleteOf course I plan to be around until at least I'm 100. In good health and still looking good. Sure.
Make certain you have a cool bike before you go, and make certain it's listed in your will - just in case.
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