I just found out that LibraryThing has created a feature that compiles lists of whether authors in your personal library are dead or alive.

83 authors in my list are Dead
226 Alive
5 Not a Person (Anonymous, Time Life Books, etc.)
258 are listed as Unknown, which means that LT does not know whether they are dead or alive. I'm sure there are technical reasons for this, but it still amuses me that this is a category, since it seems like it should be rather clear cut

The funniest category has to be Zombies (listed under Not a Person). Currently non of my authors are listed as zombies, but I postulate that it's only a matter of time.

So, I found out that my really good friend in Louisiana lost her father recently. He's been dealing with cancer for a while now so it wasn't much of a surprise. But I could feel the heaviness in her voice talking to her on the phone. I wish I could have gone to the funeral, but the money just wasn't available to fly out there.

And then yesterday, my sister's boyfriend, who has been to every one of our family Thanksgivings for the past 6 years or more found out that his mother passed. Her was more shocking, unexpected (although death always is). My heart went out to him, too.

I guess all this brings things into perspective for me, like how grateful I am to have my parents still with me, to be able to hug them, and fight with them, and laugh with them.

But it also makes me think, wow, I'm getting to that age. I'm growing up to the point where people I know die. And I know that it doesn't matter what age you're at, because people die anyway, it just seems that being an adult forces you to face mortality.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, except that I'm saddened for my friend's losses, and I'm grateful for the good I still have, and I hope that I can hold the value of each day, because life is beautiful, and good, and every other cliche.

We pent the day celebrating my mother's birthday by going to Monterey, walking the beach, collecting stones, wading in the clear cold water, and checking out the tide pools. It was a very beautiful, very pleasant day, and the sunset on the drive home was fabulous -- vibrant red, orange, and purple.

Then we reached the last twisty windy stretch to my house. . . . I think you might know where this is going:

( Cut because it's a little sad and graphic, and maybe you just don't want to read about this. )