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Regarding the life insurance, he had a very small bit through his employer, but I’m sure he saw the whole thing as unnecessary: he was 72 (would have been 73 on the 7th) and saw himself as being around another 10-15 years. Thus, he planned for that scenario, rather than the event of an accident or any unplanned occurrence. He was stubborn like that.

I indeed plan to finish the classes up, but I won’t be able to head back to school until spring 2009. It ticks me off to no end: I graduated high school in spring 2002, for crying out loud. But at least the end is somewhere on the horizon.

My dad had just turned 73 on Sept 5, 2003. He passed on Dec 17, 2003. Like your dad, my dad had reason to expect to live longer. I suspected something wasn't right when he purchased the 50th wedding anniversary gift for my mom a year early. He told me point blank that he wasn't sure he would live until his 50th wedding anniversary. It is an odd characteristic of his family to have a very good sense of impending death. His father always said, "see you next year" when we visited. The last time we visited he said "goodbye". He drove my grandmother from Phoenix, AZ to Davison, MI. He died the following week.

I graduated from high school in June 1973. I graduated from UCSD in June 1976 at age 19. My dad said I had to finish before he retired from the Navy, thus I was facing a hard deadline. It really wasn't fun, but I finished a year before he retired. In the end, it was worth all the hard work.

My #2 son graduated in 2001. The following month, he went to USMC boot camp. The WTC was destroyed while he was in boot camp. Suffice to say, going to Iraq delayed his college as well. When he returned, he put himself through the University of Phoenix to earn a BS in Business Administration. He paid for it by earning a CA real estate license and running a real estate office during the day. It paid much better than his prior job flipping burgers at In-and-Out.

Hang in and stay the course. It will be worth the effort.