Dated

I grew up knowing I could estimate someone’s age by their hair style.  The science doesn’t hold today, but in my youth it was an easy process.  Each high school senior class developed their own style and look.  As hard as each class tried for individuality, it always appeared as if each year went to the same hair stylist and barber.  If you wanted to calculate the age all you needed to do was look, reflect, subtract eighteen and you were within a year of their birth year. 
 
I still find myself dating key events by the traumatic events of a given year.  In the year this president died, this event happened.  In this year this _________ (celebrity of your choice) ___________ (event of your choice) a different event occurred.  Usually the link is to give the listener or reader a reference point so the unknown or unseen event can be more easily understood or at least put in context.  The process isn’t new.  Writers for generations have used the tool.  One prophet referenced a vision by saying “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple.” (Isaiah 6.1) 
 
This year is marked with several events some will long remember.  Gifted actresses, actors, sportsmen and women, as well as many others who touched our lives have passed.  I wonder how I can reference these events.  Will I note them to something that is strictly personal or will it be related to touching the lives of others.  I already have a long list of personal events I will easily remember.  I know I have at least one event where I have touched the life of someone else. 
 
Imagine a world where we dated our lives by the ways others were touched.  The stories are not driven by ego or the need to be recognized.  They are moments to be remembered and celebrated!  These are the real achievements of human experience.  These are the results truly worth striving and dying for.