The Book of Charlie

by David von Drehle

But springtime blossomed again in the Missouri River valley, and the trees spread their green umbrellas for summer. Charlie had a change of heart. His birthday was near, and having come so far, he decided that he might as well keep going to 109. How unlike Charlie, I thought to myself, to imagine that he had control over something as powerful and capricious as death. One of the core teachings of Stoicism is that death keeps its own datebook; it can come at any time, and the only certainty is that it will eventually get to you. Therefore, “let us postpone nothing,” in the words of the amiable Roman philosopher and playwright Seneca. “Let us balance life’s books every day.” That had been Charlie’s approach for a lifetime. But now he set his course for 109 and delayed his final accounting.