Hi Arlene, no need to apologize, we all need to know of these things, even if they seem unpleasant. I recall her name, but I can't place Carol Dempsey's face, even though she was in my homeroom.

The odds of dying in your 40's are about .3% per year on the average, so we've nearly met more than half our quota for the decade in a single year (our class had 175 people and we've lost 3 in this year alone). The average life expectancy of someone our age is another 36.2 years. This number can be comforting or frightening, depending on one's perspective. If there's any lesson to be learned from hearing of a classmate's departure from this life it is to make sure not to delay doing those things that we've been putting off, especially in letting those close to us how much we love and appreciate them.