Knowing when the end will happen...

There are statements in the prayers for the High Hoildays along the lines of "no one knows the time of his birth or his death."

This came up because today I took the kids to visit my grandparents and afterwards, my aunt called me to see how my grandfather was holding up.

It's really hard to assess these things. I mean he was there in the chair, but his physical strength wasn't superb. Our conversations didn't really occur.

My aunt was trying to determine when she should come down from NYC for her next visit. I couldn't tell her, of course.

It could be tomorrow, it could be next week, it could be next year or beyond.

"Only God knows," I said. "Maybe you could check his blog..." [Yes, there's a website: http://www.godblog.com/]

All kidding aside, I was talking to a friend of my grandparents on her 87th b-day last week and I asked her if being 87 was anything like she imagined it.

"Honestly, I'd never thought about it."

For people like her and my grandparents, life is very different when you are acutely aware that the end is something that is imminent.

Obviously, when you're younger, anything could happen, but when you're older, you know your time is running out.

It's a totally different plane of existence.