Of Living and Death

Today when I opened my Yahoo mailbox the obligatory news headlines were summarized under my mail. Most times I completely ignore these, but the tag line about Ernest Gallo the wine maker passing at age 97 caught my eye.

You see, my dad was into running/jogging in the 70's and 80's and how healthy that is. He read Jim Fixx's book about running and how wonderful it can be for your body. Jim Fixx died at age 52 of a heart attack.

My dad was and still is heavily into nutritional supplements. Did you take your vitamins? I fondly point out that the Herbalife founder Mark Reynolds Hughes died at age 44.

To my dad I pass this note: yes I have curtailed French fries to near zero. I am eating much better than I used to. However I don't fret over this stuff because I don't think I will live one day longer than I am supposed to. I do think that how you live your life is more important than what you eat or how you exercise. I think that having emotional health, good friends and a loving family trumps pills and push ups. Everything else is just a fad.

Then after I romanticized about this, I read the rest of the article about what a gangster this guy was in the wine business? Again I am reminded of how much I have to learn!