Hypochondria & mortality issues

I have never been a hypochondriac.  My health has always been relatively good, especially given the fact that I don't eat particularly well and drink alcohol more than I probably should.  Regardless, my body has persevered.  Thrived even, as I ran a marathon in 2012 as well as numerous half-marathons, 10k, and 5k races. 

When I was young I used to subscribe to the motto "I would rather be fat and happy, than be skinny and unable to eat the foods that I love."  Ah, youth.  Health catches up with you as you get older.  I am now learning that my body does not bounce back like it once did and various illnesses are a potential.  Heart disease, stroke, cholesterol, liver disease, high blood pressure etc. 

As I continue through dry January, I am realizing that I am now hitting the age where I will need to start watching my health if I want to enjoy retirement and travel after 2030.  I did make the mistake of checking Dr. Google when I had a few symptoms over the past few months.  Bad idea.  Almost every symptom can potential indicate something serious, but in my case everything was just temporary and I feel fine now.  Not to self, do not check google when you have any symptoms.

On a separate note, I always thought that I was fortunate growing up that I rarely encountered death.  Instead of being lucky, what this did is allowed me to avoid what is an inevitable part of life.  The first real death that I remember affecting me is when my grandfather died when I was around 21.  Even then, it was surreal and was old and had led a great life. 

I am now hitting the point in my life when people around me are over the halfway point in their lives and some are dying.  In the past few years I lost Mom, Nanny, Winston & Andrew, all of which have taken a toll on me and made me reflect on my own mortality.

More recently, there have been more deaths and illnesses in quick succession.  Yvette's mom passed away suddently, my aunt Bev passed away,  Uncle Steve was diagnosed with a second bout of cancer after just getting over his first, Dale Tait is not doing well.  Surprisingly, what caught me off guard was Guy Cudmore, the owner of the garage across from my work that does all of the work on my van suddenly passed away at 58.  I spoke to him regularly and this came out of the blue.

Still trying to process all of this information.

Bring on 2020

We rang in 2020 with our last New Year's eve party.  We had a good run from 1994-2019, but it was time for us to hang up our hats.  Hopefully someone else will pick up the torch.

It was a quiet holiday season, but a nice break for all of us.  We didn't do much other than attending Cheryl's parents 50th anniversary.  Other than that, it was a quiet couple of weeks watching movies and relaxing.  Both Cheryl and I got sick over the past couple of days before heading back to work.  Still fighting the cold a bit, but almost over it.

I decided to do a dry January.  It has been over a week and so far so good.  I have dropped a few pounds and am feeling much more energetic.

We booked a trip to Barbados from March 4-12 to stay at Bruce & Gloria's condo.  Can't wait.

2019 sucked.... bring on 2020.