לעילוי נשמתם
Li'ilui Nishmatam
Raising their souls... remembering...
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| Some of my relatives, on my mother's side... all have passes away, if I'm not mistaken |
Even many of my cousins have passed away already, some at rather young ages, all from illnesses, even the bride in this picture, who died recently at the age of 82. That's old for my maternal family. On the same day another cousin born in the same year, also died.
Some families consider 90+ normal and almost take that age for granted, not my mother's family. My mother lived to an older age than any of her siblings, 88, two decades more than her parents.
My father, like my mother, lived to an older age than his parents and siblings...
Nothing's guaranteed...
I have a theory that our genes predict many things in our general health. Think of it as Gd giving us a hand of cards, some better and some worse. Of course, just like when playing cards you can play badly and lose even if you start with a great hand, and it's even possible to make the best of a bad hand-- though that's much harder. Obviously I don't believe any of the the hypes claiming that certain foods or lifestyles will guarantee you a long healthy life... and that's not even taking in account that an accident, criminal or terrorist can destroy the life of a potentially long-living healthy person.
What's most important is to take care of ourselves, as best as we can, thank Gd and treasure every minute and certainly our family and friends... Anger and hatred destroy the gifts of life...
