Just hours after Mary Brewer's Aug. 27 editorial on losing friends to dying had been approved for printing, and shortly after the excitement of my class's 40th reunion on Aug. 22 waned a bit, we received news that one of our Boothbay Region High School class of 1975 classmates, Fred Orne, died suddenly in Savannah, Georgia.

Like Mary said, "It's frightening when we think back on how young we were when some folks we'd known for years, many since childhood, began dying."

Fred's death is frightening, because you never know when your ticket to what our departed co-worker David McKown called the "boneyard" is going to be punched.

At our reunion, most of us had a great time, catching up with each other's lives. With most of us knocking on the door to our sixth decade, a few conversations popped up about retirement and holding our 45th and 50th reunions. Some even suggested holding a reunion every year from now on because of our ages.

Our classmate's death and our reunion conversations got me thinking about perhaps constructing a bucket list, a list of things I want to accomplish before "kicking the bucket."

After a weekend of doing some fun, simple things with family, I realized that coming up with a list of things I want to do before I die would only be disappointing if I never achieved a bunch of them.

I realized that enjoying each day was the only thing I wanted on my bucket list, because, even though I have always wanted to visit California and Tahiti, wanted to take another trip to Disney World, this time with the granddaughters, and see my friends and classmates more often, I know that if those things happen, they happen, but if they don't, then I know that I have lived every day to the fullest.

Growing old is scary, but we all need to make the most of it by enjoying each day like it is your last. Don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy your life.