When my mother died in 2000 of cancer I realized my parents weren't super people. Then I was diagnosed with this terrible disease. That fall, one of my best buddies, Joe D'Alessio died in a motor cycle accident. His father died a few years early sitting at the dinner table. Joe was forced to take over his father's pharmacy. I knew Joe since my first semester of college. I decided to jump right in to the collegiate scene by joining a fraternity. Joe pledged with me. He was in his second year. We became close friends over the years and I miss him.
When I was in Pharmacy School we had to work x amount of hours in a Pharmacy setting. I worked part of those hours in Old Saybrook. There I met our most famous patron -
Katherine Hepburn.
Everyday her secretary would stop by and pick up a couple of New York Times. I guess so they didn't fight over the various sections. As you probably know I love old movies. I was shocked when she died. This has been a devestating year for some of my favorite stars -
Gregory Peck, 
Peck played one of the most credible actors I've ever seen. How about when he plays Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele in "The Boys from Brazil". I loved him as Aticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird and in the Hitchcock thrillers "The Paradine Case" and "Spellbound". I was jealous of him in "Roman Holiday" when he got to spend time in Rome with Audrey Hepburn. His father was a pharmacist too. Then more of my favorites died this year, Buddy Ebsen, Buddy Hackett and now
Bob Hope. 
I just loved him costariing with the like of Bing in the "Road To" shows and with Lucille Ball in "Son of Paleface". Others who have played an important roll are
Joseph Coors - brewer of my favorite beer 
(although it was not available on the East Coast until the mid 80's); Fred Rogers, someone we all grew up with; Hume Cronyn who I particualarly loved in a WWII movie in which
Spencer Tracy 
escapes from 1936 concentration camp and he is helped by Hume (who died in nearby Fairfield, CT); and other famous people dying and making me feel old. I am a big Spencer Tracy fan (that comes hand in hand with Katherine Hepburn). He died shortly after "Guess Whose Coming to Dinner" in 1967 when I was four years old. A great movie that makes on really think. Heck, if my daughter brought home an elegant man like Sidney Poitier I wouldn't hesitate to marry her off whether he was red, white or blue." I love every Spencer Tracy movie I have seen - no he did not die this year but I have to emote my admiration of this man while I was on the subject of desceased actors.
Another way to make you feel old is to work on your family's genealogy and see the generations grow and grow. My second cousins who were babies when I was young are all at the marrying stage. It can also make you feel young, I was lucky to find several people who had already done the genealogy on relatives of my mother and so far the records go back to 16th century England - wow
Well, I fell good but old today - hope this finds you all well and feeling young!
Tim
