Reply #36: I know, Honey. I'm 53 and like you I can hardly believe I have so many decades behind me.

[pink-o]

But we're still babies, right? How can we be losing our contemporaries, our friends who walked the long road with us--how can it be they've taken their last step and we have to continue without them?

And anyone who thinks it gets easier at our age is a fucking idiot!

Time, that cruel master of us all, who has been your worst enemy, is now your only friend. See, you don't have to deal with anything, Time just takes you along in its tide, and you just keep your head above it. The pain never goes away, but Time diminishes it, whether we want it or not.

But before that happens, please accept my deepest sympathies. And even though we're just a "fucking message board", don't forget there are humans behind these computers, and we want to offer comfort. Take care, Phill.

Anja, alias Pink-O