Facing T's mortality

Attorneys tend to work longer than some other people. So, it would seem, do therapists. And academics. And of course, there are other professions too. Worrying about it is not really going to stop it from happening.
I think a therapist should be prepared to talk about it.

This is very difficult, but you can only engage with him to the degree he is willing to. If he believes it is best for you to not ponder these eventualities, that's something that can be talked through. But if it is about him, then you can only press so far. I very well understand the feelings.

My T retired early due to sudden ill health and that forced our termination. Perhaps that is why he was willing to engage so openly about both of our fears of mortality and the ending of the therapy relationship. Because we have had a more or less sustained relationship post therapy, he knows that I carry a concern for him, and I really appreciate his willingness to be very straightforward with me about his health. He is fit and reasonably healthy, but he is 81, so everyday is a gift. In the event that he should die without warning, I will be notified just like everyone else in his address book.

He has slowed down; part of the building of a post therapy relationship that is problematic is trying to figure out which changes are due to aging and which are due to different boundaries. It's been a challenge to come to a point where I can usually be comfortable with the combination of closeness and distance. And experiences of mortality in both of our lives have definitely colored the relationship.

I think that in general most of the people from the Baby Bomber generation will be working longer than previous generations.

When I first got out of law school - about 30 years or so ago, we had several attorneys who were over 80 who kept offices, came in every day, wearing suit and ties. At my universities, there have always been emeritus offices, and even when I was in undergraduate and in law school, we had a lot of academics in their 70s and 80s who came in and worked on writing papers, teaching etc.
I don't think it is a baby boomer thing necessarily.

My T is 59 and I have thought about that before. I just never brought it up. It kinda scared me to think about so I just stopped thinking about it. I figured it was none of my business in the first place. She is turning 60 this coming year..but now that I think about it more I don't really believe I have an issue of her retiring any time soon since she just opened her own practice about a year ago. She has been a T for a while, but she has been working in other practices. I also believe she is in good health. So even though it is a fear in a passing thought of mine I do not believe it is something I have to worry too much about. Just sucks to think about.

Maybe not completely but I think that a larger percentage of the Baby Boomer population will be working past 65 than previous generations, my dad is 60 right now he lost his job last February but is still looking for a new job almost daily and he has no immediate plans to retire in the near future.