A baby is born, a man married and another dead, all on the same day. They are listed there on the same page of the local newspaper. A birth, evidently, is no more like a crossword than a death. Engagement announcements and silver anniversaries have plenty in common with death too, at least more than with editorials and advice columns. At least we are told so.
If a career in journalism teaches anything it is not to read too much into a page of print, but still there are questions here in need of answers. Why must a new parent, spending his life away two quarters at a time to see his son’s name printed for the first time, be reminded of the coming conclusion? Why must a couple greeting the golden years of their own time together, their own union, read on until their page is finished?
Perhaps the reasoning is simple. Maybe all the milestones are lumped together along the same page to make room for more pressing stories. Knowing something of milestones, though, the idea may need to be reconsidered. Milestones gathered together and left to themselves lead a path to nowhere in particular, nowhere worth going. It happens, though. It happens every day.
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