As we advance into "old age," we pay more attention to the obituary page than we did during our younger years. After all, we might grace those listings in the not-too-distant future.
Of course, we also "know" many of the individuals in those obituaries, whether they were neighbors or international celebrities. We are members of the same generation, having witnessed the same world events, cultural shifts and social upheavals during our lives. Their deaths are a personal loss, one more cog removed from the structure of our life. We also want to know what led to their demise, thereby reassured by our own relative state of health.
Yes, this ritual of advanced age is both a recognition of our own mortality and a reflection on those who had some influence on our life, good or bad. While we hope to be remembered as well, we are in no hurry to join their ranks.
