Reality check!

I just read moments ago about the death of respected journalist Tim Russert from a heart attack at the age of 58. Russert was one of the class acts in television news. I don’t subscribe to the notion of a liberal bias in the main stream media as much as others and Russert is one reason why. He was aggressive but fair and always a gentleman to his guests on “Meet the Press”. He will be missed. But man 58!! People aren’t supposed to fall over and die at the age of 58 anymore. I don’t know if Russert had any health issues but he always looked like a pretty healthy guy. I suppose what really got me about his death is the fact that he’s not much older than me. I’ve done a lot of things to abuse my body over the years. At one time my philosophy was to make the host unfit for the disease. Fortunately I’ve cleaned up my act a bit in recent years. I quit smoking, dropped a lot of weight, and exercise regularly. But I look at the obits everyday, not just to make sure I’m not there, but to see if anyone my age or younger has passed away. I see many people who have lived into their 80s and beyond and I hope they had rich, full lives. Sadly there are also a lot of younger people who die tragically from terminal illnesses, accidents, or at there own hands. My deepest sympathies go out to Russert’s family, friends and co-workers. I only hope I’m around long enough to be one of those people who had the rich full life.