OK. I admit it. The very first thing I read in The Baltimore Sun each morning is the obituaries, especially the long ones on the left side of the page. I am both amazed and saddened that I know so many. My friends tell me that, as a senior, and the fact that I know a lot of people, this is not unusual.

Two weeks ago, my good friend Sharon passed away unexpectedly. Whereas no one wants to lose someone we care about deeply, it can be somewhat easier when a loved one has been ill for a long time and is clearly suffering. This was not Sharon, who became a minister at 50 and lived life to the fullest.

Losing a friend at whose home I spent many Christmas Eves and Easter days has been tough.

Sharon and I both grew up in New Jersey — she in Northern, I in Central, and when, several years ago, w

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