We all mark the passage of our lives with different metrics Some use a calendar, some mark the passage of the seasons, certainly if you have children the milestones of their development are a popular way to locate ourselves on life’s timeline. My personal favorite is the number of days I have left in my pill minder.

Every couple of weeks I sit down with a collection of prescription bottles and 2 green plastic pill holders. I have had the pill minders so long that they have become part of my everyday life. Each morning I open the the space reserved for that day and tip the various combination of pills into my palm. Pausing for a moment I consider the mosaic they present, large and small each a different color, each for a different purpose. I do wonder for a moment before washing them down whether they actually improve the quality of my life or if they are simply a conspiracy to upset my stomach on a regular basis

Day by day, in order, skipping none, I progress around the ring. Each and every day  a neatly labeled compartment. This is something that evidently pleases me no end. If you doubt that you could ask my therapist about my love of boxes The progress so predictable so relentless. Each week I empty one of them and mark the passage into the gloom of the past another of the ever decreasing number of weeks in my life.

As I look to the future I envision someone cleaning up the details of my life after I’m gone. They look down at the kitchen counter and see a partially emptied pill minder. I wonder what day it stops on.