Getting older and watching friends die

[fasttwitch]

Stopped into my friend's work today to say hello,. Hadn't seen him since Christmas. Asked around for him, they said he's in the back. Went to the back and there he is. 60lbs lighter than he was at Christmas. He looked pale. I didn't want to bring it up but he did. He said cancer is back. It is not going away this time. Fuck.. This is guy who played in the NFL (second string linebacker). At Christmas he was 6'3 and 270lbs, ripped. Big guy. Powerlifter. 59 yrs old. Now he is a shadow of himself. He can't stomach food anymore. He said he's done fighting. He is making sure the new will and trust and done.

Didn't know what to say... Asked him if he wants to go shooting? He said yes. So we will go shooting one last time. I guess it will be epic. He intends to bring the 50 cal.

Got home an hour later, wife is on the phone. She gets off the phone and comes into my office "Tom is dead." What the fuck? One friend dying another friend died two days ago. Saw Tom at Christmas. He was all excited, said he was going to spend two weeks up at his cabin in North Carolina then come back home. His wife hadn't heard from him in two days so she called the local police up there. They did a wellfare check, found him dead on the lazy boy. Said it looked like he went peacefully.

So in the last 5 years that is:

My dad dead (cancer)
My brother dead (drowned)
My mother dead (heart failure)
My friend Larry dead. (cancer)
My friend Emmit dead (cancer)
My aunt died (granted she was 97!)
My other friend Tom died in his sleep two years ago, at 59, heart failure)

Just venting. This shit is getting old.

 

[genetic freak]

Sorry brother. That really sucks.

Unfortunately, with my previous career I knew death all too well. It doesn't stop there either, guys taking their lives even years after their last combat deployment. Statistics are not great for retired Infantry Marines. Our life expectancy is less than 10 years post retirement. I have already lost quite a few. I am halfway there. Just don't tell me I am terminal, because I will go out with a bang. 30 iu of GH a day, 10 g of gear a week and cocaine as my pre-workout. Might as well speed that shit up and try to stay beast mode for as long as I can.

 

[fasttwitch]

Sorry brother. That really sucks.

Unfortunately, with my previous career I knew death all too well. It doesn't stop there either, guys taking their lives even years after their last combat deployment. Statistics are not great for retired Infantry Marines. Our life expectancy is less than 10 years post retirement. I have already lost quite a few. I am halfway there. Just don't tell me I am terminal, because I will go out with a bang. 30 iu of GH a day, 10 g of gear a week and cocaine as my pre-workout. Might as well speed that shit up and try to stay beast mode for as long as I can.

Damn bro.. I get it. My uncle and two cousins were (are always?) Marines. My good friend Craig spend two years in the Korean demilitarized zone, forward recon. Tough fucker. One of the toughest guys I ever met. Nobody goes harder!

 

[fasttwitch]

I joined the Air Force because I knew for sure I couldn't handle the Marines. Or even the Army. And had no desire to be at sea all the time. Growing up in a family of Marines and Army guys meant I was laughed at a lot going into the Air Force. My dad said "son I'm proud of you going into the Air Force, don't get me wrong.. I always thought you'd go into the military though."

 

[Yano]

Out of our original "group" I'm one of the last that's on this side of the grass or not behind bars.

It's no fun getting old , sorry for your losses man , thats too many too soon.

 

[Wallyd]

Sorry for all your losses. I was just telling someone the other day I’ve been going to the funeral home way too much lately.

 

[Glycomann]

About 1/3 of my graduating class have passed away. One went last week.

 

[Bigtex]

Stopped into my friend's work today to say hello,. Hadn't seen him since Christmas. Asked around for him, they said he's in the back. Went to the back and there he is. 60lbs lighter than he was at Christmas. He looked pale. I didn't want to bring it up but he did. He said cancer is back. It is not going away this time. Fuck.. This is guy who played in the NFL (second string linebacker). At Christmas he was 6'3 and 270lbs, ripped. Big guy. Powerlifter. 59 yrs old. Now he is a shadow of himself. He can't stomach food anymore. He said he's done fighting. He is making sure the new will and trust and done.

Didn't know what to say... Asked him if he wants to go shooting? He said yes. So we will go shooting one last time. I guess it will be epic. He intends to bring the 50 cal.

Got home an hour later, wife is on the phone. She gets off the phone and comes into my office "Tom is dead." What the fuck? One friend dying another friend died two days ago. Saw Tom at Christmas. He was all excited, said he was going to spend two weeks up at his cabin in North Carolina then come back home. His wife hadn't heard from him in two days so she called the local police up there. They did a wellfare check, found him dead on the lazy boy. Said it looked like he went peacefully.

So in the last 5 years that is:

My dad dead (cancer)
My brother dead (drowned)
My mother dead (heart failure)
My friend Larry dead. (cancer)
My friend Emmit dead (cancer)
My aunt died (granted she was 97!)
My other friend Tom died in his sleep two years ago, at 59, heart failure)

Just venting. This shit is getting old.

I feel your pain. My wife and I talk all the time about how all we have left is each other. Sorry for all your loses.

 

[midevil]

I'm 64 and have seem my fair share of death by illness and accidents. Close friends and relatives multiple times. Hell, I've known 3 people that whacked themselves between 2020 and 2022.

Crazy how it all has played out. It seems one day here the next they're gone.

Seeing it all has given me an appreciation of every day.

 

[Friggemall]

I joined the Air Force because I knew for sure I couldn't handle the Marines. Or even the Army. And had no desire to be at sea all the time. Growing up in a family of Marines and Army guys meant I was laughed at a lot going into the Air Force. My dad said "son I'm proud of you going into the Air Force, don't get me wrong.. I always thought you'd go into the military though."

USAF 1979-1983 brother. Not a damn thing to be laughed at, we put our lives on the line too, just in a different branch. We had a SAC detachment on the MAC base, so I spent my first 2-1/2 years at Travis on alert and my last 1-1/2 at Chanute training base. Trust me, Gaddafi didn't give a rats butt what branch you served in 1981, he had a target on all of us.