Here's To Irwin and Rhoda

What a nice way to spend 30 minutes on a Sunday afternoon at the Atlanta Airport.

I got my soul food at Pascal’s Restaurant and began to look for an empty table. I chose against an empty table and opted instead to sit down with a couple of interesting looking folks. Irwin and Rhoda from Delray Beach Florida are my new friends. And just a few minutes later I am writing a blog about them. And in a few days a complimentary autographed copy of my book will be in the mail to them. And in the meantime they are trying to figure out how to get me to Delray Beach to speak to their community group.

I learned that Irwin and Rhoda are transplanted New Yorkers. Our accents could not have been further apart but it didn’t matter to either of us. They moved to Florida about 10 years ago and stayed for good. I could tell that Rhoda’s heart is still in the city. She misses the excitement and energy of NYC and goes back from time to time to visit a daughter. Irwin on the other hand fell in love with the slower pace in Florida and I guess he won out because they made their permanent home in the sunshine state.

Irwin and Rhoda are returning from a 10 day cruise down the Mississippi River including a few days in New Orleans.

It is always interesting to me when I tell people what I do for a living how the conversation turns. Irwin and Rhoda have recently pre-paid for their cemetery property and future funerals and asked me what I think about doing that. I told them they did a great thing because not only will they never have to pay more and their money is protected but neither one of them will have to make all the very difficult decisions regarding the business of death during the worst time of their lives. In my estimation they are smart folks for doing that.

But more importantly Irwin and Rhoda are great folks and just plain nice. They are enjoying life and enjoying each other and living life to the fullest.

Although they have decided on all the details and paid for their final funeral expenses, this undertaker is hoping that it is a long, long time before either has to use them.

Here’s to Irwin and Rhoda and all the other members of the greatest generation. Don’t ever quit living life with all the gusto you can muster. You have a way of inspiring the baby boomers like me.