This is the test you apply to your longevity as you get older. You look at the obits and check the ages of everyone who died yesterday. As long as the majority of them are older than you, everything is still OK.

You always wonder about the young folks who die. There'll always be a few babies who died either at birth or soon after. Did you realize a 15 year old has a longer projected life span than a -0- year old child in mortality tables? Once you get to be 2 or 3 years old, you're probably going to make it.

The next age range which seems to have a disproportionate number of deaths each day is the 18 to 25 group. Was it a car accident? Was it AIDS? Was it a drive-by shooting? Was it cancer? They should tell you what kills these folks. The only hint you get is when it says, "Please make donations to the American Diabetes Association," or something along those lines. But that's usually said about adults, not kids.

You know you're over the hill when reading the obits every day becomes a habit.