He was 72 then, my age now. Mortality sucks, but, not to wax philosophical, it's a fact of life.
And yet, I don't think 72 now is the same as 72 then. I really feel like the "old guys" I knew were much worse off for their age. They looked 60 when they were 40 and by 70 they could have been 95.
Of course I'm not exactly preserved, I'm pickled!