Last week a blogger friend died unexpectedly in her sleep.  Rena McDaniel was 55.  I didn’t know her well.  But I’ve been following her online since I began blogging over 12 years ago.  Her first blog posts focused on caregiving her mother with Alzheimer’s. Then when her mother passed on five or so years later, she switched to writing about blogging itself—how to do it, best programs, and even served to help others with repairs.  In other words, Rena was someone who spent her life helping others. While I never had need of her services, her presence in my blogging world was always there.  And now it’s not.  I’m only guessing, but from my perspective I don’t think Rena ever reached her “golden years.”  That got me wondering about how many of us ever really do?  What does “golden years” even mean? And like so many thoughts I have these days—maybe it is time to stop waiting for some time or some “place” in the future—and instead live life right now. [Read more…]