illnesses and underlying causes of death...as we (including you) get into the "zone" we often find ourselves in "organ recitals" ;-)...the point I am making is that COVID-19 deaths are shortening - sometimes dramatically so - lives of even this group. Had it not been for the advent of COVID, many of these people could have gone on for 10, 20 or even 30 years - with those morbidities.
To illustrate this point, I'd like to share a couple of personal experiences...
1) "Uncle Earl" (btw, do a board search with my username and keyword "Uncle Earl" to get a fuller story on this incredible ND alum)
Uncle Earl lived to be 96 yrs old, but I only had the pleasure of knowing him for his last 25 years or so...during that time I learned that he had a heart valve replacement in his 60's, and another one later on..plus a few other maladies...so if COVID-19 had come along earlier, he - and the literally hundreds of other friends and family - could have been denied the pleasure of many more rewarding years.
2) My 'Mother-in-Law', would you believe...this lady also lived to be 96, and those years were fully lived...she too had a heart condition, but somewhere in her 80's we began to run out of birthday gift ideas, so we asked here what she might like...her response?..."A chainsaw"! ;-)...true story...this made sense to us because she would always be driving up to the family cabin in the Sierra foothills to clear out the underbrush. There were other times we would ask what she was up to (again in her late 80's and early 90's)...her response..."Oh, just going down to the Senior Center to "help out the old folks"...you hopefully get where I'm going here.
It is not our call to 'write off' anyone, at any age, by failing to try and extend a life that is threatened by COVID-19.