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Living past the age your parents died

Myles Anderson, enjoying a glass of his merlot on Aug. 9 in Spokane, is the 2011 inductee to the Washington Wine Hall of Fame. “Having wine at the table is a celebratory experience. Embracing people with wine is something I’ve always done,” he says. (Christopher Anderson)
Myles Anderson, enjoying a glass of his merlot on Aug. 9 in Spokane, is the 2011 inductee to the Washington Wine Hall of Fame. “Having wine at the table is a celebratory experience. Embracing people with wine is something I’ve always done,” he says. (Christopher Anderson)

In my Wise Words interview today with Walla Walla winemaker Myles Anderson, he noted that, at 70, he has outlived every male family member. He said:

My father was a very hard worker. He worked for Gulf Oil as an accountant. When I was 17, he died of a heart attack. He was 45. I am the oldest living male in my family. No one has lived as long as I have.So life is something I cherish. I figure any time in the next 12 months might be my last 12 months. So I make decisions around the fact that maybe life is limited, and I’m being chased, maybe, by death. I need to honor that every day. And not waste what I’m doing.

I've heard a lot older people comment that they feel something -- often relief, sometimes sadness -- when they reach the age when their parents died. And then live past that age.

What about you?

(Christopher Anderson photo/Spokesman-Review)

Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.