Some thoughts about life and death

Gosh it has been a long time since I felt motivated enough to write a blog post. Anyway don't want to talk about writer's block. This is about me writing stuff so I don't just keep ruminating on it.

Recently my friend John Bull died. We first met because of CJ Romer and a trip he organised to Bury St. Edmunds for the Student Parapsychology Society at Chetlenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. When he moved to Cheltenham we met more regularly because of role playing games.

This is not a eulogy for John see this blog for some moving tributes https://jerome23.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/eulogy-for-john-francis-bull/?preview=tru, his death has led to some reflections.

John was 47 when he died, a similar age my father when he also died of a heart attack.

When my father died my mother and he had finished paying the mortgage on the house they bought together when I was an infant, he also had two children.

Looking around at my friends, from work and from role playing house/flat ownership is relatively rare. I am not the lone exception but it is far more common for my 40 something to 50 something friends to be renting accommodation rather than owning it.

Looking around at my friends, again from work and role playing, not having children seems more prevalent than having children (again mostly people from 'Generation X', but also some like me from late Baby Boomers).

My, not very cheerful, thoughts are what happens in 20-30 years time when we begin to be infirm and in need of care. We will not have children who can act as unpaid carers. Many of my friends will not have any capital assets that could be sold to provide for care.

Not sure what is going to happen when my childless friends who have been renting all of their life need expensive social care.