A Decisive Moment

I had a caller on January 7th who admitted she had written down this question last year with the intention of calling but had chickened out. This year, she bravely went forward and posed her question to the Universe. (I will point out that this was a bitterly cold day and the minute I left my house and went out into the sub-freezing temperatures, THEN, she decides to call. How did she know??)

Here are the photographs I made for her (not knowing her question) in the sequence they were taken. Only after I emailed her the photos did she reply with her question.

Will I die young like my Daddy did?

Very often you hear someone compare some statistic, income, health, retirement savings, to their parents. It's an almost unwritten law that you are expected to surpass your parents in all manners.  That is a continual theme in America - forward progress is desired above all. I wonder if it comes from our continual push westward, the feeling of such abundance that it could never be exhausted and the American Dream - that each generation could gain in wealth and social position, generation after generation. I think my generation might be the first that will, on average, achieve less than our mothers and fathers, that is, in the realms of wealth and status. What we have certainly achieved is a greater understanding in matters of health and as a consequence, may live much longer, if we make good choices. Note - that last image was definitely in homage to Henry Cartier-Bresson. So, what does "decisive moment" mean in the context of the posed question?