Could it be that we Boomers are not less healthy than the generations that preceded us, but only just as healthy as, and that that comes as a big disappointment to a bunch of folks as used to excelling as we are?

So, before we go getting all depressed about the fact that we're going to die someday and that we're most likely not going to beat all records for hanging around longer and fitter than any group of people in the history of the world ... quite the reverse, as some see it, and more than a bit of a letdown if headlines are any indication ... before we start imposing limits on ourselves based on research that points out our mortality and won't let us pretend that we'll still be around when holograms replace TV's and everyone's vacationing on Mars (or whatever ...), can we just chill out for a moment, take a deep breath and agree that we have it pretty good.

With a statistical probability of latching on to life for close to 80 years, it seems a shame to think anyone would consider 45 or 50 or 55 ... maybe even more in certain circumstances ... too old to parent a child. And with the tremendous and ever-growing number of orphans, foster kids and children finding themselves with no family to care for them in today's world, I don't see that news reports worrying about Boomers not pushing the boundary of life to 90 or 100 should hinder anyone from building a family, nor do they point out any big failure on our part.

Maybe Generation X or Next or Y or Z will break through the barriers we have now and see life extended well beyond 100 years ... although they'll have to figure out some new way to ID themselves, as they'll be all out of alphabet by then ... and more power to them if they do. But in the meantime, we live in the time we have, and all-in-all I'd say we've been lucky with that.

We may not be around for our kids' 40s and 50s, but we sure as heck can live life to the fullest, guaranteeing our kids get a lifetime of memories out of us.

Isn't that what it's all about, anyway? The closest any of us can come to immortality is to live on in the minds and hearts of our children.