Surgery or no surgery? That is the question. I'm 79 with a 4.2 ascending aortic aneurysm. If it grows as slowly as I hope it will, I might make it to 84, the age at which my mother began her steep decline. If in the next year or two my AAA reacher 5, I'll have to decide what to do. Will the surgical techniques have improved substantially by then? Will I be healthy enough to endure the rigors of such an invasive operation? Would it be worth it for me and my family to have a prolonged, painful recovery? More and more, I'm leaning in your direction. Do the best I can now and hope for the best. Get my life in order (my husband has dementia) and enjoy what I'm fortunate to have in terms of family and friends. Those in our age cohort are thinking some very long, very deep thoughts: what is the meaning of all this? Who are we really, without the trappings of an acquired persona? Life is precious, all the more so for being of limited duration. None of us are getting out of this alive. It's what we do between now and the end that will determine how we're remembered, at least at first. I don't want to leave the people I love with images of me in extremis; I want them to remember me for the things I'm proudest of.