Found this item by way of Glenn Reynolds’ excellent Instapundit blog – one of my daily Internet stops – and it truly is fascinating. Especially this:

What I’ve been thinking about is a really important part of life that, unlike all of these examples, isn’t spread out evenly through time—something whose [already done / still to come] ratio doesn’t at all align with how far I am through life:

Relationships.

…When you look at that reality, you realize that despite not being at the end of your life, you may very well be nearing the end of your time with some of the most important people in your life.

My experiences with the Episcopal Church in both Massachusetts and Kentucky cured me of the habit of projecting too far in the future and helped me realize just how precious every day is and my relationships with my friends (Goodboys and otherwise) are. I’ve learned not to waste unnecessary time and effort into relationships that don’t go both ways: in that regard, loyalty is very important to me. Being thousands of miles from my Massachusetts friends means I can’t expect them to drop whatever it is they are doing and put their lives on hold whenever I travel back east, but I’ve come around to know who they are I can count on in a time of need and those I can’t.

What the above also underscores is just how short my shelf-life is as an active, participating member of Goodboys Nation. I’m 62. Realistically, I’ve only got eight more Goodboys Invitational weekends in me before I turn 70. Eight years. You know how fast those eight years are going to pass? And that assumes in those eight years I’ll remain in reasonably good health.

So yeah, only eight more Goodboys Invitationals after this one for me, and that’ll be it. At that point, I think I’ll just go the way of Arnie, Jack, and Gary: hang up the Foot-Joys and play the role of honorary starter: make the announcements, then grab my driver and slap one down the middle of the fairway, leaving the rest of the guys to go out and play in the July while I saunter off to the cool of an air-conditioned bar to drink margaritas and hob-nob with a pretty bartender.

Not a bad way to ride into the sunset, I don’t think.