Death by Lightning

First post of 2026! This promises to be the best year ever in the life of Robert Yan.....if 2025 was a preparation year for the birth of Baby Girl Yan and greater things to come, then 2026 is going to be the fulfillment of those preparations, a teaser preview of fatherhood late in 2025 will lead to a full year of newborn life with baby! So many firsts, so many milestones, so many diapers, so many sleepless nights, so much crying, so much happiness... all mushed into one. Baby Girl Yan has had suprisingly few unexpected surprises and worrisome concerns in her short life, making the lives of MJ and I so much easier (for now) as we just need to feed her, change her diaper, and put her to sleep, and a few other things like trim her fingernails so she doesn't scratch herself, sign her up for health insurance, get her birth certificate, social security card.... but all expected challenges and it hasn't been like climbing Mount Everest or anything. I did worry a bit, and still do now, about getting a will and life insurance for MJ and I.......what would happen in the unlikely event of our untimely demise. What would go to Mina, hopefully nothing going to greedy estate lawyers and estate handlers in the VERY unlikely chance that I pass away. (And really, philosophically, if I do end up dying, will I really care about things that happen in this world anymore, including my daughter? Some say yes of course the baby will still be here and will have to bear the consequences, and for a low low x amount of dollars, you can have piece of mind that she'll be left with something! For attitudes on life insurance and wills I present a direct quote by former President of the United States James Garfield and played by Michael Shannon in the recent mini-series on Netflix, "Death by Lightning," assassination, like death from lightning, is hard to guard against and not worth worrying about. I generally agree with our 20th president's philosophy, but then again he was a known figure, maybe the most known figure in the U.S. at the time, making his life simply much more risky than a normal person's life (unfortunately true today, prominent political figures are much more likely to die unexpectedly than silly old me sitting at home). Then again, the fact that Garfield DID actually die by assassination, a sort of death by lightning, might cut against my thought of not worrying about death and insurance, maybe like Garfield I SHOULD worry about it "just in case?" It's a tough thing to think about, of course, death. I've always thought I would never die and have survived 38.5 years without even coming close to death. (Or have I?) Maybe any number of planes I have ridden in was on the verge of total collapse and I just happened to avoid it during that flight. Maybe someone was plotting to kill me at some point over a perceived slight in dodgeball. Maybe I ate really unhealthily one night or had so much to drink (I can think of a couple nights in Mexico) that something in my body could have collapsed if just a little more. But of course the most likely cause of death of any of those, maybe I could have ended up in a fatal car accident any of the thousands of times I've driven a car, I just didn't know the other driver was drinking while driving or just barely passed by me without swerving into me. It's definitely possible that I've just barely escaped death. Out of the grand universe of people, most people end up surviving their 30's and their 40's no problem without unexpectedly dying (cancer and chronic diseases would be things that you could foresee your own death and create a will when needed). So maybe it's okay NOT to have a will? Is the idea of a will and life insurance (I think definitely so in the latter case, because I can have other income to replace life insurnace) to scare nromal people and get people to pay into a system and capitalize off of insecurities, fear, and worries? (So many things I read before becoming a parent now seem manageable and not that big of a deal....Reddit can definitely amplify one's concerns). I guess if I'm wrong and I do die, I'll never find out. And if I do survive till my late years of life I'll think it was a pyramid scheme all along, so I'll never have the idea that it makes sense to do it. Death by lightning (btw, something I get scared about when I'm out running and there's lightning in the distance, I even fruitlessly run in zig zag patterns to somehow "avoid" the lightning, unscientifically).