Old Friends - Bookends

A few days away, seeing friends who I've not met up with for a year or so. We were supposed to meet before Christmas but the snow put pay to that. The realisation that they like me are getting older. They've been retired for a few years now, they developed new interests. We met up with other friends, one of whom sadly is not in such good health. Perhaps that shocked me more, I've long ago realised that we are not immortal, but this was the first time that one of my contemporaries has experienced real ill health. Watching both my friends and relatives it is clear that declining physical and mental health creeps up upon us, like a hunter attacking its prey. Having just had a health check up and discovered that I have certain high risk factors, I now have to juggle the desire for self preservation with the desire to enjoy myself. A balancing act to say the least.